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X 







THE MILL-BOY OF THE SLASHES. 



THE YOUNG AMERICAN'S LIBRARY. 



LIFE 



OF 



HENRY CLAY, 



THE STATESMAN AND THE PATRIOT. 



CONTAINING 



NUMEROUS ANECDOTES.- 



'I 



A-^- 



Will) ^USHtratinns. 







PHILADELPHIA: 

LINDSAY & BLAKISTON. 

1853. 









Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by 
LINDSAY & BLAKISTON, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Ccfiirt of the United States for 

the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. J 
' .' 

STEREOirPED BY J. FAGAX. PRINTED BT C. SHERMAN. 



I 



PREFACE. 

The biography of Henry Clay is the history of 
his country, during the term of years that it em- 
braces. But, although he was a constant actor in 
public life, his sphere did not embrace such stir- 
ring events on the ocean and the battle-field, as 
give the Uves of many other American public 
men their interest. 

Mr. Clay's history is the history of the Legisla- 
tion of the United States ; and we have labored 
so to present it, that our young readers may be 
introduced to a portion of the annals of their 
country, which is not usually embraced in brief 
and compendious narratives. 

His personal history, particularly that of his 
early years, is an incentive to labor and diligence ; 
for what he accomplished, was won with less edu- 
cational advantages, than most of our young 

(iii) 



IV PREFACE. 

readers possess. And yet, by diligence, "The 
Mill-Boj^ of the Slashes," became, as a brother 
Senator happily styled him, " Primus inter Illus- 
tres^' — the Prince of the Senate. He held this 
position not by the accident of birth, for his 
parentage was obscure — not by the fivor of par- 
tisans, for he was often in the minority — not by 
talent alone, for natural powers, uncultivated, 
betray their possessor. To natural parts, aided 
by industry, Henry Clay owed his usefulness and 
his fame. A nation honors him ; for the influence 
of his mind has guided the progress of his coun- 
try — felt as that influence has been even while 
unacknowledged. And it will moreover be per- 
petual ; for it established customs and rules which 
have survived the founder, and will endure as 
long as the republic. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Birth and Boyhood of Henry Clay — His Schooling — His Clerkship 
in Richmond — Enters the Office of the Clerk of the High Court 
of Chancery Page 13 

CHAPTER II. 

Young Clay as a Student — Chancellor Wythe — His Friendship for 
the young Student — His Removal to Lexington — His own Review 
of his Early Life 23 

CHAPTER IIL 

Lexington Debating Society — The Kentucky Bar — Party Excite- 
ment — Wasliington and Adams — Foreign Emissaries — French 
Aggressions — Apprehended War with France — The Alien and 
Sedition Acts 31 

CHAPTER IV. 

Democrats and Federalists — Mr. Clay takes the Field against the 
Alien and Sedition Acts — Mr. Clay and Emancipation — Is ap- 
pointed U. S. Senator — "Old Bess." 43 

CHAPTER V. 

Mr. Clay in the Kentucky Legislature — Difficulty with Mr. Mar- 
shall — Again sent to the Senate — Mr. Clay upon "Protection" — 
Governor Shelby— The Governor's Household — Mr. Clay's House- 
hold — Ashland — The Bottle of Wine 55 



vi CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Navigation of the Mississippi — Louisiana Ceded to France by Spain 
— Napoleon's Project of a military Colony — His double Perfidy 
to the United States and Spain — Purchase of Louisiana by the 
United States — Disputed Boundary of Florida — Measures of Mr. 
Madison in Relation thereto — Sustained by Mr. Clay 

CHAPTER VIL 



69 



The Bank of the United States — Mr. Clay in 1811 — Cow and Tur- 
key—Mr. Clay in 1816 77 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Mr. Clay Speaker of the House of Representatives — Causes of War 
— War Resolutions — Bills from the Senate — Mr. Clay's speech 
in Committee — John Randolph, of Roanoke 84 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Navy under Jefferson — Timid Project of Mr. Madison's Cabi- 
net — Remonstrances of Naval Officers — Bill to increase the Navy 
— Speech of Mr. Clay — Naval History of the War of 1812 95 

CHAPTER X. 

Henry's Embassy — Declaration of War 105 

CHAPTER XI. 

Mr. Clay appointed Peace Commissioner — Retort Courteous — British 
Demands — Long Negotiation — The Treaty — Rejoicings and 
Complaints — The London Times — Mr. Clay's Speech in Lexing- 
ton — Anecdote 112 

CHAPTER XIL 

Mr. Clay's Eloquence — Frankfort and the Hat — Madame De Stael 
and Wellington — Bonaparte — Mr. Clay's Advice to Young Men 126 



CONTENTS. Vll 



CPAPTER XIII. 

Debts at the close of the War of 1812 —The Tariff of 1816 — Mr. 
Clay on the Spanish Republics 133 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Close of the Fourteenth Congress — Its Leading Measures — The 
Compensation Act — Public Dissatisfaction — Opening of the Fif^ 
teenth Congress — Internal Improvements 147 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Seminole Campaign of 1817 — Arbuthnot and Ambrister — 
Pensacola and St. Marks — Difficulties in the Cabinet — Proceed- 
ings in Congress — Speech of Mr. Clay 156 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Missouri Compromise — Retirement of Mr. Clay — His Mission 
to Virginia — Visit to Hanover — Speech before the Virginia House 
of Delegates 167 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Mr. Clay's Re-Election to Congress — Chosen Speaker — Greece — 
Reception of Lafayette 178 

CHAPTER XVIIL 

Election of John Quincy Adams — His Testimony to Mr. Clay — 
Mr. Clay in the Cabinet — The Panama Mission — Mr. Randolph 
and Mr. Clay — Their Last Interview 186 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Mr. Clay's Retirement — His Election to the Senate — Removal of the 
Deposites — Expunging Resolution — The Compromise Tariff.... 193 

CHAPTER XX. 

Presidential Elections — Mr. Clay's Demeanor under Disappointment 
— Resignation of his seat in the Senate 204 



• 



• • • 



Vlll CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Mr. Clay's Withdrawal from Public Life — Annexation of Texas — 
The Tariff — Liberality of Mr. Clay's Friends — Speech on the 
Irish Famine — Death of Henry Clay, Jr. — Mr. Clay's Baptism — 
His Journeys — Speech on Colonization 211 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Mr. Clay returns to the Senate — The Compromise of 1850 — The 
River and Harbor Bill of 1851 219 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Mr. Clay's Last Illness — Interview with Kossuth — His Demeanor 
in the Sick-room — His Death 226 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Speeches in Congress — Funeral Honors — Burial at Lexington — 
Conclusion 232 




< 

o 

w 






THE LIFE 



OF 



HENRY C LAY. 



CHAPTER I. 

BIRTH AND BOYHOOD OF HENRY CLAY — HIS SCHOOLING 

HIS CLERKSHIP IN RICHMOND — ENTERS THE OFFICE OF 
THE CLERK OF THE HIGH COURT OF CHANCERY. 

Henry Clay was born in Hanover County, 
Virginia, April 12th, 1777; and thus entered 
the world at a time when his first perceptions 
and thoughts would arise from the new order of 
things, or be drawn toward the republican usages 
of the new era. By this training he became, in 
after years, a fit successor to the statesmen who 
had guided his native country through a long 
and weary struggle, terminating in a dearly pur- 
chased peace, the proclamation of which was 
among his earliest recollections. 

2 (13) 



14 LIFE OF 

There were many things in the circumstances 
of his birth, which were conducive to his future 
usefulness and success. Upon the foundation of 
a house depends the strength of the structure; 
and upon the childhood of the man is built his 
future character. To show how from obscurity 
and without the aid of wealth, connections, or 
what are usually deemed the advantages of life, 
Henry rose to a fame and position second to few 
in the repubhc, will be the chief purpose of this 
biography. Our young readers should be stirred 
to generous emulation; and as Henry Clay never 
received the high political reward which is 
painted as the summit of American ambition, 
those who read his life should learn the value of 
that solid reputation, and calm self-respect, which 
is the substantial recompense of true patriotism. 
They should from his history learn to appreciate 
the consciousness of rectitude which can console 
the possessor even under the attacks of calumny, 
and which can take away the bitterness of dis- 
appointment, even when to defeat there seems to 
be added the sting of ingratitude. Accident may 
place the undeserving on the highest pinnacle of 
human honor; but no accident can confer that 
highest of worldly rewards — the innate sense of 



HENRY CLAY. IS 

worth — which depends upon no popular verdict, 
and can be taken away by no human injustice, 
and destroyed by no ungrateful neglect. 

When, in 1783, peace was proclaimed, Henry 
Clay was in his seventh year, and had been for 
about two years forced into that state of early 
and trying independence which a lad inherits 
who early loses his father; for Henry's father 
died in 1781. He was a clergyman, and in the 
humble worldly lot of a self-denying servant of 
God, has left no memorial which places his name 
on the record of distinguished men. But he was 
remembered while those lived whose recollections 
went back to the period of his life, as a man esti- 
mable and beloved in his social relations; and the 
fame of his son will carry down to posterity the 
pleasant memory of the man whose early instruc- 
tions — so soon interrupted — formed the germ of 
the future excellencies of Henry's character. 

But though the death of a father is a great 
misfortune, there is relief for it in the manly 
development of character, and the bringing for- 
ward of mental strength, which are the effect of 
the care of a widowed mother. Though her sway 
be gentle, yet in the case of children thus be- 
reaved we often read Sampson's riddle — out of 



16 LIFE OF 

weakness cometh strength. The boy during his 
father's life is dependent ; but to the feebleness 
of his mother he becomes a protector; and is 
early taught of what value even a child, disposed 
to be obedient and useful, may prove in the 
world. The mother of Henry Clay lived to see 
her son realize the reward of his early industry 
and studiousness, and his filial piety. She sur- 
vived until 1827, at which date Mr. Clay had 
been for over twenty years in public life. She 
watched with a mother's honest exultation his 
upward progress ; and with a mother's deep affec- 
tion rejoiced that public duties never estranged 
his heart from his domestic relations, or quenched 
the sacred feeling of filial piety and obedience. 

A favorite symbol during the election of 1844, 
when Henry Clay was a candidate for the Presi- 
dency, was a ruddy lad, mounted upon a horse, 
with a sack for a saddle. This referred to his 
early boyhood, when, in common with thousands 
of his young countrymen, he performed his part 
in the labors of the house and the homestead. A 
cardinal requisite to success in life is industry ; 
and a right understanding of what is honorable 
and what is dishonorable, will lead young and 
old never to be ashamed of necessary labor. Far 




THE VILLAGE SCHOOL. 



HENRY CLAY. 17 

less will the truly honorable boy or man save his 
own fancied dignity by imposing undue labor 
upon mother' or sister. There is no more noble 
trait of character than generosity; and he w^io 
sacrifices pride, or overcomes indolence for the 
assistance of others, is more truly generous, in 
his self-denial, poor though he be, than if he 
could throw away, with lavish hand, money 
which he need not count. And the lad Henry 
Clay, when a bare-footed messenger between the 
house and mill, no doubt felt more content than 
when in later years he bore the public burthen. 

The early school advantages of Henry Clay 
appear to have been very small. His teacher's 
name was Peter Deacon, and Mr. Clay often re- 
ferred to him with respect and affection. It does 
not appear that Henry had any school oppor- 
tunities after the age of fourteen years. The 
school-house in which he acquired the elements 
of reading, writing, and arithmetic, was a rude 
log structure, having no glass windows — if indeed 
it had any window whatever. It is said that the 
only aperture through w^hich light entered was 
the open door. Henry went forward in his arith- 
metic as far as " Practice," a rule w^hich, in the 
old style of teaching, was just far enough from 

2* 



18 LIFE OF 

"units under units, and tens under tens/' to ena- 
ble the pilgrim among figures to "see through" 
the book. No doubt Henry was very studious 
under Mr. Deacon's tuition; and probably his 
father's library, or what remained of it after his 
decease, was useful to him. His mother and 
elder brothers and sisters, for Henry was the 
seventh child, must have aided him in his pro- 
gress. Home education does often more than can 
be accomplished in the few hours daily spent in 
school. Many hours every day under a strange 
instructor, will do little, if the familiar voices at 
home do not cheer and encourage the beginner ; 
and apparently small opportunities, if home in- 
fluence is favorable, will produce great results. 

At the age of fourteen, Henry Clay was placed 
in the store of Mr. Kichard Denny, in Kichmond, 
Ya. Neady all boys can recollect the ordeal 
through which they were required to pass, on 
leaving the familiar objects at home, and passing 
the scrutiny of other and older lads. At school, 
or in a store, a shop, or an office, the consciousness 
of awkwardness, and want of habitude to the new 
occupation, shows the novice to ill advantage. 
The older and accustomed clerks, apprentices, or 
students, do not hesitate to make a butt of the 



HENRY CLAY. 19 

new comer. It was a discipline through which 
they themselves passed, and they are not disposed 
to lose their revenge, by forbearing to inflict the 
same annoyance on their successors. 

In the store of Mr. Denny, Henry remained 
for a year. We have no record of the manner in 
which he spent his leisure time, if he found any, 
and can only judge by his conduct afterward, and 
by the results of his life. He says of his own 
education that it was "neglected, but improved 
by his own irregular exertions, without the bene- 
fit of systematic instruction." In this remark — 
uttered as an apology for the deficiencies which 
he felt more than others perceived — we are not 
to suppose that he intended any reflection upon 
the mother whose memory he so much revered. 
She did all that a parent could, under such disad- 
vantages as beset her path. Nor was Mr. Clay 
forgetful of the kindness of Captain Henry "Wat- 
kins, to whom his mother was married while 
Henry was yet young. This gentleman took a 
father's care of his wife's older children, and to 
his kindness and influence Henry was indebted 
for the propitious circumstances which opened to 
him the career in which he afterwards distin- 
guished himself. 



20 LIFE OF 

Captain Watkins procured for Henry Clay, at 
the age of fifteen, a clerkship in the office of Peter 
Tinsley, Esq., Clerk of the Court of Chancery in 
Richmond. This was considered a highly eligible 
position for a lad, and it was no small testimony 
to Henry's diHgence that he was competent to fill 
it. Probably the other clerks had enjoyed oppor- 
tunities of learning far superior to Henry's ; and 
this spurred the new comer to stiidiousness to 
overcome the distance between himself and them. 
And if his first appearance in Richmond was a 
trial to his nerves, the taking possession of his 
desk in the office of the Clerk of Chancery must 
have been much greater. He had in dress, man- 
ners, and general appearance, all the awkward- 
ness to which we have already referred; for a 
year in a store could not transform a studious 
boy into a town lad. His very awkwardness of 
manner was in reality a testimony in his favor. 
Any quick, but superficial boy, can soon appear 
"to the manner born" among lads who have lived 
in a circle which gives superficial polish ; but he 
whose mind is occupied with graver pursuits, 
may long be the object of the ridicule of his 
inferiors. 

We are not, then, surprised to learn that the 



HENRY CLAY. 21 

first impression of the other clerks was, that in 
the Mill-Boy of the Slashes they were to have a 
fine object for their practical jokes, and a victim 
for their pleasantries. The boy had not a hand- 
some, perhaps not even an agreeable face. His 
movements were awkward; his dress was rustic 
— the product of the labor of his good mother — 
home-spun cloth, made up without the artistic 
skill of a town tailor. His little coat, which she 
without doubt had smoothed, and adjusted, and 
admired, had any thing but a " city set ;" and in 
his clean and well-starched linen, no doubt the 
little fellow felt all the consciousness of something 
which he must " keep nice." But the office lads 
soon discovered that the young rustic was no butt 
for them, and that whoever encountered Henry 
Clay in a war of wit and repartee, would find no 
small antagonist. 

Whatever awkwardness the lad felt among 
those awe-inspiring rows of books and desks in 
the Chancery Clerk's office, we are sure he could 
not have felt for one moment ashamed of his 
parents, or disposed to undervalue their kindness 
which had placed him there. Perhaps his ardent 
devotion to the system of " Home Industry," may 
have had its origin in the Slashes of Hanover, 



22 LIFE OF 

where lie early learned what economy and indus- 
try can accomplish, with small means and against 
adverse fortune ; and if he was not proud of his 
home-spun clothes, he was glad that his mother 
had not robbed her own comforts, or incurred 
debts, to equip him, above her pecuniary means. 
"We cannot conclude this chapter better than by 
copying a sentiment offered at a Fourth of July 
dinner, in Campbell County, Ya., by Mr. Eobert 
Hughes: — "Henry Clay, — he and I were born 
close to the Slashes of Old Hanover. He worked 
bare-footed, and so did I; he went to mill, and so 
did I ; he was good to his mamma, and so was I. 
I know him like a book, and I love him like a 
brother !" 



HENRY CLAY. 23 



CHAPTER II. 

YOUNG CLAY AS A STUDENT — CHANCELLOR WYTHE — HIS 
FRIENDSHIP FOR THE YOUNG STUDENT — HIS REMOVAL 
TO LEXINGTON — HIS OWN REVIEW OF HIS EARLY LIFE. 

Henry Clay was what may be termed an extra 
clerk in the office of Mr. Tinsley ; for when he 
was taken in, there was no vacancy. The favor 
was procured at the earnest soHcitation of his 
friends. If he had been idle, or negligent, or 
inefficient, it will readily be supposed that he 
could not have retained his place. He was put 
to the task of copying — and of all drudgery, that 
of writing off the interminable words of legal 
documents, is to a lad most tiresome. Correctness 
and clean writing are required; blots, misspelling, 
and interlineations, cannot be tolerated. And 
although lawyers themselves are proverbial for 
bad penmanship, the clerks who copy documents 
for reference or for record, must write a clean and 
legible hand. He soon won the respect of his 
office companions, and although the youngest 



24 LIFE OF 

clerk, his superior abilities gave him precedence 
in their regard. He did not buy their good opi- 
nion by partnership in their follies. He was not 
merely a "pleasant fellow;" for when the others, 
out of office hours, devoted themselves to amuse- 
ment, Henry Clay applied himself to his books. 
He was a most assiduous student, and verified in 
his experience the fact that change of occupation 
is relief and rest. Many young men seek in vain 
for recreation in the excitement of the theatre, or 
even more questionable places ; laboring harder, 
and fatiguing the mind and body more in the 
pursuit of amusement, than they would in the 
calm prosecution of some useful employment. 
Henry Clay had a higher ambition than to remain 
a copyist of the results of the legal knowledge of 
others. He filled up his leisure in study. The 
hints of erudition which he obtained in his rou- 
tine of occupations, caused him to thirst for 
knowledge, and to its acquisition he applied him- 
self with earnestness. 

Merit ensures success. Among those whom 
business brought frequently into the office of Mr. 
Tinsley, was a venerable man whose own life and 
experience recommended to his notice the strug- 
gles of the boy into whose history he had inquired. 



HENRY CLAY. 25 



Himself left an orphan at an early age, he knew 
the dangers and difficulties of such a position. 
In his case, they rose from the uncontrolled pos- 
session of great wealth — more dangerous, perhaps, 
than the temptations of poverty. He could see 
the lures to dissipation which surrounded the 
young, and he admired the steadiness with which 
Henry resisted them. He knew what industry 
could accomplish ; for after having wasted the 
years which are usually devoted to education, he 
had commenced in manhood to recover the time 
he had lost ; and so successfully had he labored, 
that at the time of which we speak he was sole 
chancellor of the state of Virginia, a trust which 
he filled for twenty years — without reproach — 
without suspicion. Conspicuous before the Ee vo- 
lution, in the Virginia Legislature*, as an ardent 
patriot; a delegate to the first Congress; a signer 
of the Declaration ; a member of the Convention 
which formed the federal Constitution; — George 
Wythe was a friend of whom a young man might 
well be proud. His patronage and direction 
developed the character of the young clerk, and 
the employments which he assigned to him in- 
creased, while in a degree they met, the thirst for 

3 



26 LIFE OF 

knowledge which kept alive the ambition of 
Henry Clay. 

Chancellor Wythe procured from Mr. Tinsley 
the services of Henry Clay, as an occasional 
secretary, to copy his decisions. At length he 
became, in effect, the private secretary of the 
Chancellor, though nominally in Mr. Tinsley's 
office. The studies of Chancellor Wythe were 
prosecuted with great industry and far-reaching 
research ; in learning, industry, and sound judg- 
ment, he had few superiors; and for a lad like 
Henry Clay to be such a man's private secretary 
was itself an education. And not only in strictly 
legal knowledge, but in the classics, in history, 
in polite literature, the friendly advice of the 
Chancellor was the guide of the young clerk. 
Under such judicious instruction, Henry Clay 
was so trained that he was more than able to cope 
with his compeers, who received the benefits of 
education in Universities. He was a continual 
student, needing only suggestive advice ; and he 
rewarded counsel by obedience, thus encouraging 
his friends to direct him. Nothing is more dis- 
couraging to one who wishes well to a youth, 
than to find him inattentive to the directions of 
► his elders. No labor was thus lost upon Henry 



HENRY CLAY. 27 

Clay. He not only availed himself of the kind- 
ness of his friends, but remembered their good 
offices with gratitude, and referred to them with 
emotion, when he had reached a position in which 
he no longer needed patronage or advice, but 
could confer both. 

Many youth read — but their reading may be 
desultory ; without any established aim, and per- 
haps with no higher object than amusement. 
Henry Clay read with an object, as is evident 
from the fact that when his name had been en- 
rolled for about a year only, as a student of law, 
in the office of Attorney-General Brooke, he was 
admitted to practice by the Court of Appeals. 
It is not to be supposed that one year could con- 
fer knowledge of law sufficient to entitle a minor 
to admission to the Bar, and we therefore infer 
that the reading of the lad always was of a prac- 
tical and useful character. For five years young 
Clay enjoyed the privilege of Chancellor Wythe's 
friendship ; and he was furthermore introduced 
into the society and notice of John Marshall, 
afterward Chief Justice of the United States, and 
other distinguished men of that era. He had 
thus an opportunity of acquiring, at the fountain- 
head, a knowledge of the meaning of the founders 



28 LIFE OF 

of the republic, in the constitution which they 
drew up, and the laws which were passed in pur- 
suance of it. His intimate relation with these 
political patriarchs, apprised him of the cost of 
that Union with which his life may be said to 
have begun; and in his after life he showed him- 
self, on more than one important occasion, the 
effective friend of his country, and its able de- 
fender, whether the threatening danger came 
from foreign foes, or arose from internal diffi- 

culties. 

We cannot pass this period in the life of our 
hero, without commending the example of the 
young man who sought to improve his mind by 
listening to the wisdom of his seniors, rather than 
to dissipate his time and talents in amusement 
with his fellow-students. He thus secured the 
esteem of men who could appreciate his charac- 
ter, and predict his success. His relations with 
those of his own age were also of an elevating 
character. Like seeks like — and with other 
young men like himself, studious and ambitious, 
he combined amusement with instruction in the 
exercises of a debating society; which was the 
first scene of his capacity for oratory and for 
argument. The promise of his life early deve- 



HENRY CLAY. 29 

loped itself; and we may add also that his capa- 
city for winning and securing friends was also 
early manifested. His frank and generous nature 
had none of the finesse and art which can secure 
advancement by duplicity and management. He 
had not the small ambition which can stoop to 
flattery and fawning, but his character was 
stamped with an early manliness which commands 
respect while it invites affection. 

After obtaining admission to the Bar, Henry 
Clay removed to Lexington, Kentucky, in 1797. 
His parents had preceded him in emigration to 
that State. The following brief review of his 
boyhood is extracted from a speech made by him 
ill 1842, when he met some of his old friends at 
an entertainment, upon his retirement, as he sup- 
posed, from public life. " In looking back upon 
my origin and progress through life, I have great 
reason to be thankful. My father died in 1781, 
leaving me an infant of too tender years to retain 
any recollection of his smiles or endearments. 
My surviving parent removed to this State in 
1792, leaving me, a boy of fifteen years of age, in 
the office of the High Court of Chancery, in the 
city of Eichmond, -without guardian, without 
pecuniary support, to steer my course as I might 

3^^ 



30 



LIFE OF 



or could. A neglected education was improved by 
my own irregular exertions, without the benefit of 
systematic instruction. I studied law principally 
in the office of a lamented friend — the late Gover- 
nor Brooke — then Attorney-General of Virginia, 
and also under the auspices of the venerable and 
lamented Chancellor Wythe, for whom I had 
acted as amanuensis. I obtained a license to 
practise the profession from the Judges of the 
Court of Appeals of Virginia, and established 
myself in Lexington, in 1797, without patrons, 
without the favor or countenance of the great or 
opulent, without the means of paying my weekly 
board, and in the midst of a Bar distinguished 
by eminent members. I remember how comfort- 
able I thought I should be, if I could make one 
hundred pounds, Virginia money, per year, and 
with what delight I received the first fifteen shil- 
lings fee. My hopes were more than realized — I 
immediately rushed into a successful and lucra- 
tive practice." 



HENRY CLAY. 31 



CHAPTER III. 

LEXINGTON DEBATING SOCIETY — THE KENTUCKY BAR — 
PARTY EXCITEMENT — WASHINGTON AND ADAMS — FOR- 
EIGN EMISSARIES — FRENCH AGGRESSIONS — APPRE- 
HENDED WAR WITH FRANCE — THE ALIEN AND SEDITION 
ACTS. 

Mr. Clay did not immediately enter upon the 
practice of law in Lexington, but allowed some 
months to pass in farther preparatory studies, 
before he applied for admission as a practitioner. 
He had a guarantee of success in his modest esti- 
mate of his own acquirements ; and knowing the 
distinguished men with whom he would have to 
cope, he preferred to wait and discipline his mind 
by application, and to review and systematise the 
studies which he had pursued with industry, but 
not with method. 

An amusing anecdote is related of this part of 
his life. There was a debating society in Lex- 
ington, of which Mr. Clay of course became a 
member. His purposes in life, and his associa- 



32 LIFE OF 

tions, would naturally lead him to embrace all 
helps to the acquirement of experience in speak- 
ing, and no opening was to be neglected which 
would enlarge his circle of acquaintance, and 
introduce him to those most likely to be of benefit 
to him. One evening, as the debate was about to 
close, Mr. Clay remarked to those who sat near 
him, that "he did not think the subject had been 
exhausted." The observation was overheard, and 
by universal consent, Mr. Clay was called upon 
to speak. He had never spoken in Lexington, 
and probably never in Kichmond, except in the 
debating club there ; and the call of his friends 
caused him no small feeling of 'embarrassment. 
" Mr. Clay will speak !" said one or two members 
to the chairman ; and as he had hinted that there 
remained something yet to say, he was placed in 
a dilemma from which he could only escape by 
saying it. The chairman nodded to the new 
member — all eyes were turned upon him in ex- 
pectation, and all voices were hushed as he rose. 
" Gentlemen of the jury" — Mr. Clay commenced, 
and ashamed of his ludicrous error, could not 
proceed. But the politeness of the chairman, 
and the courtesy of the members, who withheld 
even the pardonable mirth which such a mistake 




THE DEBATING SOCIETY. 



HENRY CLAY. 33 

might well occasion, reassured him. But he 
began again ^^ Gentlemen of the jury" — and yet 
again made the same inappropriate commence- 
ment. As he must now speak, having risen, he 
persevered, and convinced his hearers that the 
subject was not, indeed, yet exhausted. Many 
who heard him that night, and others who heard 
of the awkward commencement of a brilliant 
speech, were in the habit, while they lived, of 
contrasting this maiden effort with the uncon- 
strained and brilliant speeches which afterward 
fell from Henry Clay, the finished orator and able 
statesman. 

This first speech in Lexington, notwithstanding 
its awkward commencement, must have been a 
very striking performance, and no doubt did 
much in opening Mr. Clay's path to the practice 
of his profession. One of the gentlemen who 
heard it, was in the habit of declaring that the 
debating club speech was the best that Mr. Clay 
ever made in his life ! He was young, ambitious, 
and sensitive, and deeply felt the importance of 
first impressions to his success on a new scene. 
The commencement "gentlemen of the jury" 
betrayed his secret, and exposed the fact how 
busily he had prepared unspoken speeches, and 
3 



I 



34 ' LIFE OF. 4, 

how fixed his mind was upon the profession which ! 
he had selected. It was acknowledging that he 

had studied — and to fail would be to betray the : 

fact that he had studied to little purpose. But i 

he nerved himself, and succeeded. l! 

If the young lawyer felt diffident upon entering i 

the profession of law on account of his estimation i 

of the talents of the members of the Kentucky , 

Bar, time has shown that his appreciation of his i 

competitors was not exaggerated. Nicholas, i 

Brackenridge, Hughes, Brown, Murray, Kowan, i 

and others ; men who have been conspicuous in i 

the judiciary — ^in the National and State Legisla- i 

tures — in foreign embassies — and in the walks of ; 

public life at home, were among his associates, i 

And his own life has presented a career as distin- ; 

guished as that of any of his contemporaries, i 

Some of these men had already achiaved reputa- i 

tion when Henry Clay entered the lists with i 

them; and others rose with him to eminence and I i 
note. There is no school for youth more impi^v- ' ' 

ing than a generous and honorable rivalry ; and '. 

he is sure best to succeed whom choice or circum- ; 
stance places among those with whom it is an, 
honor to contend. 

During these early days in the history of the 



k 



HENRY CLAY. 35 

republic, master minds had great subjects with 
which to grapple. Perhaps these very subjects 
made the men, developing and strengthening 
their natural jDOwers, and requiring more various 
knowledge than in more settled times. Every 
thing was new ; and what is now determined by 
custom, had then to be established upon its own 
merits. The Presidency of Washington, and of 
John Adams, was a stormy period. Even the 
high veneration which the nation felt for the 
Father of his country, did not prevent his motives 
from being assailed, and his character aspersed, 
with a violence and rancor unexceeded in modern 
party warfare. In a letter to Mr. Jefferson, in 
1796, President Washington wrote very feelingly 
upon this subject of party bitterness : — 

" Until within the last year or two, I had no 
conception that parties would, or even could, go 
the lengths I have been witness to; nor did I 
believe until lately that it was within the bounds 
of probability — hardly within those of possibility 
— that while I was using my utmost exertions to 
establish a national character of our own, inde- 
pendent, as far as our obligations and justice 
would permit, of every nation of the earth ; and 
wished, by pursuing a steady course, to preserve 



36 LIFE OF 

this country from the horrors of a desolating war, 
I should be accused of being the enemy of one 
nation, and subject to the influence of another; 
and, to prove it, that every act of my administra- 
tion would be tortured, and the grossest and most 
insidious misrepresentations of them be made, by 
giving one side only of a subject, and that too, in 
such exaggerated and indecent terms as could 
scarcely be applied to a Nero — to a notorious 
defaulter — or even to a common pickpocket." 

This is strong language. That it was not the 
effect of mere feeling, there are unfortunate 
proofs extant, in the contemporary newspapers, 
and the correspondence of the period — in the 
debates of Congress, and in the votes barely sup- 
porting the President, which are on record. The 
nation of which he was accused of being the 
enemy, was France ; and that under the influence 
of which he was said to act, was Great Britain. 
Time has removed party prejudice, and no man 
of any party now presumes to doubt the purity 
and integrity of George Washington; and even 
the measures which were unpopular during his 
life, it is conceded were fittest for that period. 
What he endeavored to do, as he claims in the 
above paragraph, it is now admitted that he per- 



HENRY CLAY. 37 

formed, and very much more. His acts and his 
measures form the precedents or examples upon 
which the government is now conducted. But 
this could not be the case without loss to the 
present popularity of the man who dared to do 
what he thought right, at any personal sacrifice. . 
The ^^exaggerated and indecent terms" in 
which President Washington was assailed, grew 
principrrly out of opposition to the determined 
stand of neutrality which he took in relation to 
the wars which followed the French Eevolution j 
and it is matter of history that those who attacked 
him were directly or indirectly in the French 
interest. There was everything to prejudice a 
generous people against Great Britain, and in 
favor of France. With the one nation, the coun- 
try had but recently been at war ; and the other 
was the friend and ally of America in her strug- 
gle. But the discernment of Washington could 
not be blinded as to the character of the revolu- 
tionary government of France, or the tendency 
of the wholesale innovations in religion, order, 
and law, which the reckless fury of the French 
Revolution proposed and attempted. He feared 
what events have since shown — that France was 
not fi.tted for republican institutions. By his 

4 



38 LIFE OF 



I 



resolute adherence to the policy which prudence 
and patriotism dictated, the United States were 
saved from embroilment in the European difficul- 
ties. But the French Minister, and indeed the 
French Government, took the highly indelicate 
and aggressive attitude of appeals to the preju- 
dices of the American people against the govern- 
ment; the Minister setting on foot expeditions, 
in defiance of law, against England and Spain ; 
and successive ministers addressing letters to the 
government, which in more than one case were 
published simultaneously with their presentation 
to the authorities. These were often written in 
a spirit of arrogance and insult which it is diffi- 
cult now to conceive possible. They were issued 
at periods when they might have an influence on 
elections ; and when the choice of a successor to 
General Washington was pending, one of these 
offensive documents made its appearance. And 
not only were these acknowledged papers put 
forth, but through the press appeared unacknow- 
ledged articles, written by the same dictation. 

General Washington, after eight years' service, 
was succeeded by John Adams, in 1797. Not- 
withstanding the efforts of his opposers, foreign 
and domestic, such was the moral grandeur of 



HENRY CLAY. 39 

his character, that Washington might have re- 
ceived a third unanimous election. But he 
declined a re-election in the Farewell Address, 
which has ever since been appealed to as defining 
American policy ; and which even the eloquence 
of Kossuth, during his late tour, could not set 
aside, or persuade the nation to forget. Thus 
has experience vindicated the wisdom of Wash- 
ington, although some of his contemporaries, and 
among them patriots and well-wishers to their 
country, second only to himself in fame, differed 
from him in opinion. 

His successor had not the prestige of a name 
so honored to second his administration. At that 
time, the mode of election differed from the pre- 
sent. Each elector deposited two names, without 
designating either as President or Vice-President. 
The candidate who had the highest vote was 
declared President, and the next in order Vice- 
President. Thus Mr. Adams had for his Vice- 
President, Mr. Jefferson, who was pledged to a 
different line of policy from that which Mr. A. 
pursued. The practical difficulties which this 
mode of election caused were perceived, and the 
present method of electing President and Vice- 
President has been substituted. 



40 LIFE OF 

Without the unanimity of choice which elected 
Washington, and laboring under the disadvantage 
of having received a partisan vote, being elected 
over Mr. Jefferson by a majority of three only, 
Mr. Adams had great difficulties to contend with. 
The French Government became even more 
aggressive than under Washington's administra- 
tion, and the British Government did nothing 
which could reconcile the people to what was 
represented as the undue partiality of the admi- 
nistration for that power. Affairs reached such 
a crisis that war with France was deemed inevi- 
table, and General Washington was summoned 
from his retirement to take command of the 
American army. The subject was thus intro- 
duced, by President Adams, to the attention of 
Washington : " In forming an army, whenever I 
must come to that extremity, I am at an immense 
loss whether to call out the old generals, or to 
appoint a new set. If the French come here, we 
must learn to march with a quick step, and to 
attack, for in that way only they are said to be 
vulnerable. I must tax you sometimes for advice. 
We must have your name, if you will in any case 
permit us to use it. There will be more efficacy 
in it, than in many an army." 



HENRY CLAY. 41 

The difficulty did not, however, proceed to open 
war, being averted by negotiation. Much was 
endured. Spoliations on American commerce 
took place, and the flag of the United States was 
insulted by both England and France. But the 
conduct of the latter power was most preposte- 
rous, particularly to the American envoys who 
were sent to Paris to negotiate. These envoys 
were even menaced in France with odium in 
America, which the French authorities threatened 
to excite against them. When these facts were 
officially published, an universal feeling of indig- 
nation in the United States overcame all party 
prejudice, and as the French authorities de- 
manded money as a preliminary condition to any 
negotiations, the answer of the American people 
was "millions for defence, not a cent for tri- 
bute !" * Under the pressure of these causes, and 
while the United States seemed to be contemptu- 
ously treated as an instrument in the hands of 
foreign nations — neither Great Britain nor France 
fully acknowledging her independence — the 
famous Alien and Sedition Acts were passed. 
Great Britain continued to hold forts on our 
Western frontier, and within our acknowledged 

* Marshall. 

4* 



42 . LIFE OF 

territories, and insisted on her claim to search 
our vessels, and impress men alleged to be her 
subjects. France, in the manner already de- 
scribed, tacitly denied our nationality ; and both 
nations seemed to have forgotten that the United 
States had ceased to be British provinces, and 
were therefore no longer a mere battle-ground 
for European quarrels. By the Alien Act, the 
President of the United States was authorized to 
send aliens — as foreigners are termed — out of the 
United States, if he deemed them dangerous 
characters; and no form of judicial proceeding 
was necessary in the case. And by the Sedition 
Act, prosecutions could be maintained against 
those parties who accused the government un- 
justly. 



HENRY CLAY. 43 



CHAPTER IV. 

DEMOCRATS AND FEDERALISTS — MR. CLAY TAKES THE 
FIELD AGAINST THE ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS — MR. 
CLAY AND EMANCIPATION — IS APPOINTED U. S. SENATOR 
— "OLD BESS." 

General Lafayette well pronounced the Con- 
stitution of the United States " a happy compound 
of State rights and Federal energy." But the 
precise limits of the Federal and State sovereign- 
ties it was impossible to state in any instrument 
written by man. The trial of the compact by 
circumstances must define its nature ; and it was 
Henry Clay's privilege to be, in youth, the atten- 
tive observer of the progress of the events which 
have determined many important questions. 
Chancellor Wythe, his early friend, was one of 
the framers of the Constitution ; and the proper 
ambition of the young man brought him in con- 
tact with many other of the leading spirits of the 
day. There were two great contending parties; 
the Federalists — who were accused of the inten- 



44 LIFE OF 

tion to strengthen the United States Government 
at the expense of the rights of the States ; and 
the Democrats — who were for leaving the largest 
latitude to the States, to guard against disunion. 
The councils of the former party prevailed during 
the days of Washington ; but the moderation of 
that magistrate, and the democratic tendencies of 
the people, prevented any such evil as was appre- 
hended. On the other hand, the reaction caused 
by the disastrous issue of the French attempt at 
a republic, checked democracy from exceeding 
the limits of safety; and between the struggles 
of the two parties, rules were established which 
have settled the policy of the United States down 
to the present day. There are still many ques- 
tions which remain undecided, but as none of 
them equal in importance what have already 
been determined, we need not doubt that the 
Federal Union will prove strong enough for any 
exigence. When Jefferson came into power, he 
declared the contest upon the original disputes of 
the two great parties, at an end. " We are all 
republicans — we are all federalists." 

To return to the subject of our narrative — 
Henry Clay. The matter introduced at the close 
of the last chapter, is necessary as preliminary to 



HENRY CLAY. 45 

noticing young Clay's first appearance as a politi- 
cian. It was at the early age of twenty-one, as 
an earnest opponent of the Alien and Sedition 
Laws. Great as was the excitement which fol- 
lowed upon these enactments, they passed Con- 
gress without any very strenuous opposition. 
Once enacted, however, they were the rallying 
point of the opposition. To give the President 
absolute and unquestioned power over the liber- 
ties even of foreigners, and to restrain the liberty 
of the press in the discussion of the acts of the 
public servants, were regarded as dangerous steps, 
tending to monarchy and absolutism. The legis- 
latures of Virginia and Kentucky passed strong 
resolutions condemning these laws as unconstitu- 
tional, and calling upon the other States for 
responses. But the then existing evil of foreign 
interference — " the intrigues of foreign emissaries, 
employed by the profligate government of the 
French Directory, who abused the freedom of the 
press by traducing the character of the adminis- 
tration and its friends, and by instigating the 
resistance of the people against the government 
and laws of the Union "* — this evil, we say, was 
so much more apparent than the theoretical regal 

* J. Q. Adams. 



46 LIFE OF 

danger, that none other of the States jomed with 
Kentucky and Virginia, and several strongly dis- 
approved of their resolutions. But both measures 
proved so decidedly unpopular, that nothing like 
them has ever been repeated. The Alien Law 
expired, by its own limitation, in 1800, and the 
Sedition Law in 1801. Perhaps, with the eminent 
statesman already quoted, we may safely pro- 
nounce the acts themselves, and the resolutions 
concerning them, as adversary party measures. 

Mr. Clay appeared in the field as the earnest 
opposer of these laws. No reports of his early 
speeches on any subject are preserved, and we 
have not met even a sketch of his highly popular 
harangues upon this subject. It would be curious 
to know to what length the ardent young politi- 
cian proceeded; particularly as the legislature of 
Kentucky, in her resolutions, affirmed the right 
of nullification as the proper remedy for uncon- 
stitutional acts of the Federal Government. But 
in the absence of a full report, it would be highly 
unjust to hold the popular orator responsible for 
all the measures taken by those whose election 
he advocated. 

Young politicians are ardent, and usually un- 
selfish — or less selfish than older men. No doubt 



HENRY CLAY. 47 

many a man has unconsciously defended what he 
esteemed the right with the more zeal that it 

ij chanced to be popular, and that it thus opened a 
path for his ambition. Still, the younger men in 
! a republic look more to patriotic and high na- 
tional considerations, than to expediency; for 

^j expediency must make, more or less, an impor- 
tant element in a veteran politician's calculations. 
We may therefore concede to young Clay the 
merit of discerning what subsequent events have 
proved, that the powder of banishing even aliens 
simply upon the suspicion of the Executive, is 
not a prerogative Avhich comports with the genius 
of our institutions. 

Whatever desire of popularity may have en- 

•I tered into Mr. Clay's course upon the Alien and 
Sedition La^vs, there w^as another subject on 
which he did not hesitate to defend the unpopular 
side, deeming it the right. A convention was 
about assembling to prepare a Constitution for 
Kentucky, and Henry Clay was one of the earnest 
advocates of a provision for the gradual abolition 
of slavery in the Commonwealth. The measure 
failed, the majority of the people out-voting the 
emancipationists. Mr. Clay had, previously to 
his public and personal advocacy of this reform, 



48 LIFE OF 

strongly urged it in a series of papers published 
in the Kentucky Gazette. Frequent reference 
has been made by Mr. Clay to this period in his 
life. We subjoin an extract from a speech deli- 
vered by him at the anniversary meeting of the 
Kentucky Colonization Society^ at Frankfort, in 

1829: — 

" More than thirty years ago, an attempt was 
made in this Commonwealth to adopt a system 
of gradual emancipation, similar to that intro- 
duced in Pennsylvania, in 1780. And among the 
acts of my life which I look back to with most 
satisfaction, is that of my having co-operated with 
zealous and intelligent friends to procure the 
establishment of that system in this State. We 
believed that the sum of good which would be 
attained by the State of Kentucky, in a gradual 
emancipation of her slaves, would far transcend 
the aggregate of mischief which might result to 
herself and the Union together, from the gradual 
liberation of them, and their dispersion and resi- 
dence in the United States. We were overpow- 
ered by numbers, but submitted to the decision 
of the majority, with a grace which the minority, 
in a republic, should ever yield to such a decision. 
I have nevertheless never ceased, and never shall 



HENRY CLAY. 49 

cease to regret a decision, the effects of which 
have been to place us in the rear of our neighbors, 
who are exempt from slavery, in the state of 
agriculture, the progress of manufactures, the 
advance of improvements, and the general pros- 
perity of society." 

It will be sufficient to add, in this connection, 
that Mr. Clay's disposal of his slave property, by 
will, shows that he retained to the last his ideas 
upon gradual emancipation, and that he remained 
during his life a friend to the Colonization enter- 
prise. His public labors and speeches, in early 

I life, had the effect to secure a reputation which 
brought him many and profitable clients. Both 
as a civil, and as a criminal lawyer, he was soon 
highly distinguished ; and it is said that no 

\ alleged criminal whose defence he undertook, 
failed to obtain discharge or acquittal. 

In 1803, Mr. Clay was elected to the legislature 
of his adopted State. Matters of local interest 
caused him to be selected, but the election was a 
high compliment to his talents and legal learning. 
The Lexington Insurance Company was menaced 
with a repeal of its charter, and the late Hon. 
Felix Grundy was an advocate of the measure. 
Mr. Clay was opposed to it ; and both gentlemen 

5 



50 LIFE OF 

had been employed as counsel by the parties, 
whose controversy brought the question to an 
issue. In the House the question came up, and 
was debated with much pertinacity and ability. 
The House decided against the corporation ; but 
the Senators, who had many of them been pre- 
sent, reversed this decision. Mr. Clay's short 
service in the State Legislature was followed by 
his appointment by the Executive of the State to 
complete, in the United States Senate, the term 
of General Adair, who had resigned. 

Whatever may be charged against the unfor- 
tunate and erring Aaron Burr, no one will suspect 
him of any deficiency in legal acumen. It was, 
therefore, a great compliment to Henry Clay, that 
upon two occasions when Burr was arrested in 
Kentucky, he applied to young Clay as his coun- 
sel. In neither case was a bill of indictment 
found against Burr, who was subsequently ar- 
rested, and tried on various charges of treason 
and misdemeanor. What the man intended to 
do, still remains a mystery. The difficulty which 
we have seen in our own day, attending the trial 
of persons charged with organising military expe- 
^ ditions in the United States, and the sympathy 

^ which is always enlisted in behalf of those who 

N 



HENKY CLAY. 51 

are prosecuted for political offences of this nature, 
will account for Mr. Clay's undertaking the de- 
fence of Burr. It is proper to observe, however, 
that as the developments of the trial proved Burr 
to have deceived him, Mr. Clay regretted that he 
had ever listened to his request. But in be- 
friending Colonel Burr, he only shared the com- 
mon feeling of the people of generous Kentucky. 
Mr. Clay did not appear in the trial of Colonel 
Burr at Richmond, nor in that trial was Burr 
convicted ; though the verdict of popular opinion 
was passed against him, from which he never 
recovered. 

Mr. Clay's appointment to Congress, in 1806, 
was but for a single session of the Senate. Even 
in that brief period, he gave earnest of his future 
fame and influence. At that early day in the 
history of our national legislation, no congres- 
sional act was unimportant; parties and states- 
men narrowly watched each other, since votes on 
subjects which would now be regarded as unim- 
portant, then had a signification as fixing the 
practice of the govei-nment. The subject of 
debate when Mr. Clay took his seat in the Senate 
in 1806, was the erection of a bridge over the 
Potomac at the expense of the United States 



52 LIFE OF 

Government. The principle involved was the 
constitutionality of public improvements at the 
government expense. Mr. Clay here commenced 
the course which he uniformly followed — the 
defence of that policy — and his speech is repre- 
sented as one of the best he has delivered. 

In 1807, Mr. Clay's Congressional term having 
expired, he was again elected to the Legislature 
of Kentucky. To his early "canvassing" the 
following anecdote is referred. Mr. Clay was 
addressing a crowd, when a party of riflemen, 
who had been practising, drew near to listen. 
They were pleased with the off-hand and attrac- 
tive style of his oratory, but, backwoodsmen-like, 
considered that there were other requisites to 
manhood, beside the capacity to talk. They 
wanted no representative who was not able to 
honor the Kentucky weapon, and do good service 
with the rifle. An old man in the company, who 
seemed to have the place of " spokesman" assigned 
to him, beckoned to Mr. Clay to come towards 
him, when his speech was finished. A candidate 
for ofiice, who is soliciting the popular suffrage, 
must be very courteous ; so he obeyed the signal. 

"Young man," said the Nimrod, "you want to 
go to the Legislature ?" 



HENRY CLAY. 53 



Mr. Glay acknowledged this — very modestly 
of course — principally on account of his friends ; 
though he confessed, having been nominated, he 
should like to be successful. But he was hardly 
prepared for the next question. 

" Are you a good shot ?" 

Now shooting has little to do with legislation, 
but a great deal depended upon the favor of these 
marksmen. We are afraid that Mr. Clay had 
some mental reservation behind the reply that 
" he considered himself a good marksman !" But 
he was to be proved. 

" Then you shall go to the Legislature," said 
Nimrod ; ^' but we must see you shoot !" 

There was no escape. Mr. Clay pleaded that 
his own rifle was at home, and he never shot 
with any other. 

"No matter," said the hunter. "Here's Old 
Bess; she never fails in the hands of a hunter. 
She has put a bullet through many a squirrel's 
head, at a hundred yards. If you can shoot with 
anything, you can with Old Bess.^' 

"Yery well!" said Mr. Clay, "put up your 
mark." There was no escape, and he was resolved 
to try, " hit or miss." The target was placed at 
eighty yards, and Mr. Clay, bringing the piece to 

5* 



54 LIFE OF 

his shoulder, pierced the centre — very much, we 
suspect, to his own astonishment. 

"A chance shot!" cried his political opponents. 
" He can't do it again in a hundred times trying. 
Let him try it over !" 

"Beat that, and I will!" said Mr. Clay. It was 
a fair offer, but no one accepted it ; and he, leaving 
well enough alone, passed with the crowd as a 
good marksman. He had moreover, in after life, 
more fame in rifle practice than he desired. 
When in Europe, as commissioner to make a 
treaty with England, at the close of the war of 
1812, he was represented in an English paper as 
the man who killed Tecumseh; and furthermore, 
it was stated with all gravity, caused several 
razor strops to be made from the fallen Indian's 
skin! 

While relating anecdotes, we may mention 
another which Mr. Clay used to relate with much 
humor. He was once opposed to a gentleman 
who had but one arm, and an Irish wag who was 
under obligations to him, voted for his opponent 
on the plea that he chose the man who could put 
but one hand into the public treasury. 



HENRY CLAY. 55 



CHAPTER V. 

MR. CLAY IN THE KENTUCKY LEGISLATURE — DIFFICULTY 
WITH MR. MARSHALL — AGAIN SENT TO THE SENATE — 
MR. CLAY UPON "PROTECTION" — GOVERNOR SHELBY — 
THE governor's HOUSEHOLD — MR. CLAY'S HOUSEHOLD 
— ASHLAND — THE BOTTLE OF WINE. 

In tlie Legislature of Kentucky, in 1808, Mr. 
Clay introduced a resolution to the effect that the 
members, to encourage domestic manufactures, 
and to give their constituents an example, should 
clothe themselves in fabrics of domestic manufac- 
ture. It was always a favorite opinion with some 
of the prominent legislators and statesmen of our 
republic, that domestic manufactures should be 
encouraged by the exclusion of foreign, or by such 
taxes on foreign goods as would give American 
the preference in cheapness. Others have resisted 
the policy of "protection," as it is termed, desiring 
to leave foreign and domestic fabrics to stand 
upon the ground of unfettered competition. The 
right of the government of the United States to 



56 LIFE OF 

impose duties of a prohibitory, or even " protec- 
tive" character, has been denied by many. 

War, viewed in whatever light w^e choose, is a 
great evil ; and when, according to the rule of 
national custom or intercourse, it becomes neces- 
sary to resist aggression, or to assert right, the 
advantages which may be secured through the 
successful prosecution of warfare, are always 
heavily balanced by the misfortunes and social 
disadvantages which result from even a victorious 
struggle. We have noticed in preceding chapters 
the bitterness which the remains of the war feel- 
ing caused in the early councils of our country, 
and the charge of favor for one nation, and 
enmity against another, which were mutually 
alleged against the great parties in the United 
States. The protective policy was defended and 
attacked on similar grounds. It was the policy 
of Great Britain to discourage, and prevent 
manufactures in her colonies, in order to make 
them dependent upon the mother country. This 
system was carried to such an oppressive length, 
that it formed one of the most serious subjects 
of complaint in the colonies against Great Britain, 
and was among the causes which led to the war 
of the Revolution. 



HENRY CLAY. 57 

When the United States became independent 
of Great Britain, it was obvious that the inde 
pendence was nominal only, while we were 
dependent upon a foreign nation for articles 
necessary not only for government purposes, but 
for the daily uses of life. All admitted this ; the 
question was whether American manufactures 
should be left to struggle, unaided, against foreign 
rivalry, or whether legislative enactments should 
assist the American against the foreign article. 
Mr. Clay was an earnest supporter of the latter 
opinion. With such views, he brought forward 
the resolution spoken of above. It was a stormy 
session of the legislature, many subjects of im- 
portance being canvassed, and no little heat being 
exhibited. Out of this exciting state of things 
grew a personal difficulty, which resulted in a 
duel between Mr. Chiy and Humphrey Marshall. 
We should be glad if there were no such passage 
as this to record in his life ; but it is no faithful 
performance of the duty of a biographer, to sup- 
press the account of the faults of the subject of 
his work. Duelling is an indefensible practice, 
and no man has more strongly condemned it than 
Mr. Clay himself. He said, in an address to his 
constituents, in 1825, — "I owe it to the commu- 



58 LIFE OF 

nity to say, that whatever heretofore I may have 
done, or by inevitable circumstances might be 
forced to do, no man holds in deeper abhorrence 
than I do, this pernicious practice. Condemned, 
as it must be, by the judgment and philosophy — 
to say nothing of the religion — of every thinking 
man, it is an affair of feeling about which we 
cannot, though we should, reason. Its true cor- 
rective will be found when all shall unite, as all 
ought to unite, in its unqualified proscription." 
Mr. Clay's abhorrence of duelling is just — his 
apology is w^eak. The same sophistry would 
apply to any act of violence, of revenge, or of 
slavish conformity to the false opinions of the 
world. What judgment, philosophy, and religion 
condemn, cannot be defended; nor can necessity 
be pleaded for it. True courage sets at defiance 
the sneers of a world which urge a man to do 
evil. There is no heroism in preferring the 
chance of a pistol-shot — the danger of murdering 
or being murdered — to the terror of a fiilse public 
opinion. And this erroneous estimate of honor 
is one of the teachings of war. Yet there have 
been warriors who refused, upon principle, to 
engage in a duel; as there have also been, and 
still are, many civilians who aspire to the reputa- 



HENRY CLAY. 59 

tion of submitting their quarrels to the flilse 
arbitration of the duel. 

Mr. Clay's meeting with Marshall resulted in 
no fiital consequences. He was spared the re- 
morse of murder, and his own life was reserved 
for the long line of public service to which we 
now return. He was again elected, in 1809, to 
fill another Senatorial vacancy, that was created 
by the resignation of the Hon. Bucknor Thurston. 
During this session of Congress, he took occasion 
to bring forward an amendment embodying his 
views of the protection of domestic industry. A 
bill was under discussion to purchase cordage, 
sail-cloth, and other munitions of war; and to 
this an amendment was moved, that preference 
should be given, in the purchase, to articles of 
domestic manufacture. The sole object considered 
in the tariff, up to this date, was the provision of 
revenue for governmental expenses. But Mr. 
Clay, with other statesmen, saw the necessity of 
the provision within ourselves of the necessaries 
which war, by interrupting commerce, might cut 
off. Washington and Jefferson had distinctly 
recommended the fostering of domestic industry ; 
and Madison, then President, had urged upon 
Congress such alterations in the laws, as should 



60 ^ LIFE OF 

more especially protect and foster the several 
branches of manufacture which had then been 
commenced. The bill above mentioned, with the 
amendment, was carried by a large majority. We 
subjoin an extract from Mr. Clay's speech : — 

" It is a subject no less of curiosity than of 
interest to trace the prejudices in favor of foreign 
fabrics. In our colonial condition, we were in a 
complete state of dependence on the mother 
country, as it respected manufactures as well as 
commerce. For many years after the war, such 
was the partiality for her productions in this 
country, that a gentleman's head could not with- 
stand the influence of solar heat, unless covered 
with a London hat ; his feet could not bear the 
pebbles or frost, unless protected by London shoes; 
and the comfort or ornament of his person was 
only consulted, when his coat was cut by the 
shears of a tailor ^ just from London !' At length, 
however, the wonderful discovery has been made, 
that it is not absolutely beyond the reach of 
American skill and ingenuity, to produce these 
articles, combining with equal elegance greater 
durability. And I entertain no doubt, that in a 
short time the no less important fact will be 
developed, that the domestic manufactures of the 



HENRY CLAY. 61 

United States, fostered by government, and aided 
by household exertions, are fully competent to 
supply us with at least every necessary article of 
clothing. I therefore, Sir, am in favor of encou- 
raging them, not to the extent to which they are 
carried in England, but to such an extent as will 
redeem us entirely from all dependence on foreign 
countries.- There is a pleasure — a pride, if I may 
be allowed the expression — (and I pity those who 
cannot feel the sentiment) in being clad in the 
productions of our own families. Others may 
prefer the cloths of Leeds and of London, but 
give me those of Humphreysville." 

From a speech delivered at a later date, we 
make the following extract. We may premise 
that the man here held up as a model, was one 
of those men of the revolutionary era, of whose 
friendship Henry Clay was justly proud, and 
whose experience and advice aided in forming his 
character. Governor Shelby commenced his ser- 
vice of his country in the Indian wars prior to 
the declaration of independence. He served 
through the whole revolutionary war in the field, 
and as a legislator, as soldier, surveyor, and com- 
missary; giving evidence of prudence, scientific 
knowledge, and bravery, which entitle him to 

6 



62 LIFE OF 

high distinction, and also to solid reputation. He 
was a member of the convention which formed 
the Constitution of Kentucky, and was chosen 
the first governor of that State. He was again 
elected governor in 1812, and at his advanced 
age, was active in the second war with Great 
Britain, marching with four thousand men to the 
frontier where General Harrison commanded. 
After the close of his gubernatorial term, he held 
several important trusts, till overtaken by the 
infirmities of age. He died in 1826, at the age 
of seventy-six years. Such was the man whom 
Henry Clay thus cites as an example : — 

" If you want to find an example of order, of 
freedom from debt, of economy, of expenditure 
falling below, rather than exceeding income, you 
will go to the well-regulated family of a farmer. 
You will go to the house of such a man as Isaac 
Shelby. You will not find him haunting taverns, 
engaged in broils, prosecuting angry lawsuits; you 
will behold every member of his family clad with 
the produce of their own hands, and usefully 
employed — the spinning-wheel and the loom in 
motion by day-break. With what pleasure will 
his wife carry you into her neat dairy, lead you 
into her store-house, and point you to the table- 



HENRY CLAY. 63 

cloths, the sheets, the counterpanes, which lie on 
this shelf for one daughter, or on that for another, 
all prepared in advance by her provident care, for 
the day of their respective marriages. If you 
want to see an opposite example, go to the house 
of a man who manufactures nothing at home, 
whose family resort to the store for everything 
they consume. You will find him, perhaps, at 
the tavern, or at the shop at the cross-roads. He 
is engaged, with the rum-grog on the table, taking 
depositions to make out some case of usury or 
fraud. Or perhaps he is furnishing to his lawyer 
the materials to prepare a long bill of injunction 
in some intricate case. The sheriff is hovering 
about his farm to serve some new writ. On court 
days — he never misses attending them — you will 
find him eagerly collecting his witnesses to defend 
himself against the merchant's and the doctor's 
claims. Go to his house, and after the short and 
giddy period that his daughters have flirted about 
the country in their calico and muslin frocks, 
what a scene of discomfort and distress is pre- 
sented to j^ou there ! What the individual family 
of Isaac Shelby is, I wash to see the nation, in 
the aggregate, become. * * * If statesmen 
would carefully observe the conduct of private 



64 LIFE OF 

individuals in the management of their own 
affairs, they would have much surer guides in 
promoting the interests of the state, than the 
visionary speculations of theoretical writers." 

Having copied Mr. Clay's picture of the house- 
hold of Governor Shelby, it will not be out of 
place to introduce here the domestic establish- 
ment of Mr. Clay, as described by one of his 
biographers.* At the date of Mr. Clay's appoint- 
ment to the Senate, in 1809, he had been married 
ten years. Commencing life as a professional and 
public man at a very early age, it was fortunate 
for him, perhaps, that he had thus early also the 
responsibilities of the head of a household. His 
wife, who survives him, was born in Hagerstown, 
Maryland, in 1781, being thus four years younger 
than her husband. Her father was Colonel 
Thomas Hart, a gentleman of high standing in 
Lexington; for whom Mr. Clay's respect, and 
Mrs. Clay's affection, is shown by their giving the 
mother's paternal name to several of their chil- 
dren. The date of the following extract was 
1842: — 

"Mr. Clay, in all his domestic relations, has 
sustained through life an exemplary and spotless 

* Colton. 



HENRY CLAY. 65 

reputation as a husband, father, and master. 
During his long public career, himself the ob- 
served of all observers, few away from Lexington 
and the neighborhood ever heard any thing of his 
family, simply because everything there was as it 
should be. It has been a quiet history, because 
it has been without fault, and without ostentation. 
The virtues of Mrs. Clay, as a faithful wife, an 
affectionate mother, and a kind mistress, have not 
been altoirether unknown. At the head of a 
great household, her cares, in the absence of her 
husband on public duty, so frequent, and often 
long protracted, have necessarily been habitually 
extended to interests out of doors, as well as to 
the customary domain of woman; and no lady 
was ever better qualified for the position she has 
so long occupied. Her dairy, garden, the pleasure 
grounds of Ashland — all on a large scale — and 
her green-house, were always supervised by her; 
and the operations of a farm of between five and 
six hundred acres, were not less constantly some- 
what under her care. The feeding and clothing 
of all the men and w^omen on the farm and in 
the house, being some fifty or sixty in all, also 
required her attention, together with caring for 

the sick. Not a gallon of milk, nor a pound of 

5* 



66 LIFE OF 

butter, nor any of the garden vegetables, went to 
market without her personal supervision; and 
the extent of these duties may be partly imagined 
from the fact, that the Phoenix Hotel, in Lexing- 
ton, is supplied with thirty gallons of milk per 
day from Ashland, in the summer, and twenty in 
the winter. Mrs. Clay is the first up in the 
morning, and 'the last to bed at night. When 
General Bertrand was a guest at Ashland, he was 
much astonished at the extent and variety of 
duties discharged by Mrs. Clay, and at the acti- 
vity and system with which they were accom- 
plished. The servants, in door and out, cared 
for in health and in sickness, in infancy and in 
old age, well-housed, well-clad, well-fed, exempt 
from the anxieties of life, and always treated 
with indulgence, would never have known they 
were in a state of bondage, if they had not been 
told." "*■ 

The reader will not, we presume, be displeased 
to learn something more of Ashland. We extract 
from the same source as the above, the following 
brief and interesting description : " Ashland, 
comprising the house, gardens, and park, is situ- 
ated a mile and a half south-east from the court 
house in Lexington. The whole estate consists 




ASHLAND, THE RESIDENCE OP MR. CLAY. 



HENRY CLAY. 67 

of between five and six hundred acres of the best 
land in Kentucky, which, for agricultural pur- 
poses, is one of the richest States in the Union. 
Ashland proper was projected for an elegant 
country-seat. The house is a spacious brick 
mansion, without much pretension in architec- 
ture, surrounded by lawns and pleasure-grounds, 
1 interspersed with walks and groves, planted with 
I almost every variety of American shrubbery and 
forest trees, executed under the direction of Mr. 
' and Mrs. Clay. Mr. Clay appears to have de- 
lighted in gathering around him the plants and 
trees of his own country, there being among 
I them few exotics. As the domicil of the great 
I American statesman, Ashland is one of the house- 
\ hold words of the American people. Having 
I been deeply lodged in their affections, so long as 
I the memory of the great proprietor is cherished, 
i it cannot fail to have a place in history." 

And, we may add, it is an evidence of what 
energy and talent — talent not ashamed of indus- 
I try — may accomplish for a young American. He 
': who finds a model in such a man as Isaac Shelby, 
cannot fail to become independent of debt — ex- 
cept, indeed, when drawn into embarrassment by 
misfortune. Mr. Clay has been twice seriously 



68 LIFE OF 

embarrassed — but in both instances by liabilities 
for others. His manner of living was without 
ostentation, and his habit has been to make no 
engagements which he could not promptly meet. 
But we must not anticipate our narrative. 

An amusing anecdote is related of Mr. Clay in 
connection with his defence of American manu- 
factures and productions. A western vine-grower 
presented him with some specimen bottles of 
American wine. So pleased was he with this 
evidence that we need not go abroad even for 
luxuries, that at his annual visit to Washington, 
he carried a bottle or two with him, to astonish 
the anti-American-system men, with the Ameri- 
can vintage. It was produced by him at a public 
table, duly prefaced with a brief " protective 
speech." Upon tasting it, his guests, in spite of 
their politeness, looked awry and astonished in- 
deed. Mr. Clay hasted to put it to his own lips, 
and found it was — very respectable whiskey! 
Subsequent inquiry developed the fact that some 
of his servants Avith an epicurean taste, had 
drunk the wine, and, fearing detection, refilled 
the bottles with something decidedly American 
to be sure — but still quite foreign to the purpose. 



HENRY CLAY. 69 



CHAPTER VI. 

NAVIGATION OF THE MISSISSIPPI — LOUISIANA CEDED TO 
FRANCE BY SPAIN — NAPOLEON'S PROJECT OF A MILITARY 
COLONY — HIS DOUBLE PERFIDY TO THE UNITED STATES 
AND SPAIN — PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA BY THE UNITED 
STATES — DISPUTED BOUNDARY OF FLORIDA — MEASURES 
OF MR. MADISON IN RELATION THERETO — SUSTAINED BY 
MR. CLAY. 

Among the less familiar passages of history, is 
the fact that this continent narrowly escaped 
being made the theatre of the exercise of the 
warlike spirit of Napoleon Bonaparte. Louisiana 
was ceded to Spain by France in 1763, and re- 
mained in Spanish occupation until 1800. Florida 
was also a Spanish possession, having been restored 
to that power in 1783, after twenty years' nominal 
occupation by England. Thus the whole of the 
southern and western border of the United States 
was in the possession of Spain. After much 
negotiation, and many lowering indications of 
difficulty, the United States obtained from Spain, 



70 L I F E O F 

by treaty, the right to navigate the Mississippi, 
and also the privilege of using the city of New 
Orleans as a place of deposit. 

In 1800, Napoleon compelled Spain to re-cede 
Louisiana to France, in the treaty of retrocession 
binding himself not to suffer the colony to go into 
the hands of the United States. But, as he did 
not wish to have the possession of Louisiana 
clogged by any conditions, he compelled Spain to 
annul or withdraw the treaty stipulation by which 
the United States enjoyed the use of the waters 
of the Mississippi. Florida still remained in the 
hands of Spain, and the boundary between Florida 
and Louisiana was not very accurately defined by 
the treaty of retrocession. Napoleon was not 
unwilling, probably, to have open questions both 
with the United States and with Spain ; for a new 
scene of operations was open, before his mind, on 
this continent, and occasions of dispute would 
further his designs. 

The transfer of Louisiana to France had been 
stipulated, but not made public. The designs of 
Napoleon, whatever they may have been, were 
studiously concealed; but the temper of the 
French Government toward the United States, 
was anything but conciliatory. An armament 



HENRY CLAY. 71 

was prepared to take possession of tlie newly- 
acquired province, and twenty thousand troops 
waited embarkation at Helvoetsluys, under the 
command of Bernadotte. That the destination 
of this force was for America, we have the official 
declaration of the French Government. The war 
between England and France had ceased, by the 
treaty of Amiens, in 1801 ; but the details of the 
treaty remained unfulfilled, and were the subject 
of continual anger and bitterness. England re- 
garded with jealousy every movement of France, 
and although Napoleon insisted to the day of his 
death, that he intended at that juncture no enter- 
prise against Britain, yet the movements of the 
French troops in the ports of France and Holland 
were made the occasion of hostile j)reparations in 
England. A note by Talleyrand, handed to the 
British Ambassador in answer to a royal address 
to the British Parliament, distinctly said : " If 
His Britannic Majesty, in his message, means to 
speak of the expedition of Helvoetsluys, all the 
world knows that it was destined for America, 
and was on the point of sailing; but in conse- 
cpience of that message, its orders are counter- 
manded." 

What a succession of quarrels, difficulties^ and 



72 LIFE OF 

wars, must have followed the attempt to control 
the Mississippi, and hold the western part of this 
continent! "Louisiana" had a meaning almost 
indefinite ; and the power to annoy which such 
an occupation would have given France, might 
have heen full of great and unhappy results. Not 
the least of these, would have been the compul- 
sion of the United States into European war; ; 
the continuation of our colonial misfortunes. 

The spirited language of a great American 
statesman and orator'^ thus describes the aim of 
Napoleon : " Here it had been his purpose to 
establish a military colony, with the Mexican 
dominions of Spain on one side, and the United 
States of America and the continental colonies of 
Great Britain on the other, in the centre of the I 
western hemisphere — the stand for a lever to 
wield at his pleasure the destinies of the world. : 
♦ * :•: 'pj-^Q restless spirit of Napoleon, inflamed 
at the age of most active energy in human life, 
by the gain of fifty battles, dazzling with a splen- 
dor then unrivalled but by the renown of Csesar, 
breathing for a moment in the midway path of 
his career, the conqueror of Egypt — the victor of 
Lodi and Marengo — the trampler upon the neck 

* J. Q. Adams. 



HENRY CLAY. 73 

of his country, her people, her legislators, and 
her constitution — was about to bring his veteran 
legions in formidable proximity to this Union. 
* * * In re-purchasing from Spain the colony 
of Louisiana, Napoleon — to hold in his hand a 
rod over the western section of the United States 
— had compelled the dastardly and imbecile mon- 
arch of Spain to commit an act of perfidy, by 
withdrawing from the people of the United States 
the stipulated right of deposit at New Orleans. 
The great artery of the commerce of the Union 
was thus checked in its circulation. The senti- 
ment of surprise, of alarm, of indignation, was 
universal among the people. The hardy and 
enterprising settlers of the western country could 
hardly be restrained from pouring down the 
swelling floods of their population, to take pos- 
session of New Orleans itself, by the rights of 
war." 

Even in Congress there were indications of a 
war-spirit. To meet the dilemma, President 
Jefferson sent Mr. Monroe to France, to be joined 
in a Commission Extraordinary with K. H. Liv- 
ingston, then Resident American Minister in 
Paris. Their commission was to purchase the 
island of New Orleans, and the Spanish territory 

7 



74 LIFE OF 

east of the Mississippi. Mr. Monroe had scarcely 
reached Paris, when he and his colleague were 
informed of the readiness of the French Govern- 
ment to cede to the United States the whole of 
Louisiana. Napoleon had too much work on his 
hands already, in the threatened renewal of the 
war with Great Britain, to cumber himself with 
an American colony, which would offer a new 
point of attack for his European enemies, and 
entangle him, also, in a contest with the United 
States. He needed money, and could spare no 
troops for trans-atlantic operations. To accept 
the proposition to take the whole colony of 
Louisiana, exceeded the powers of the commis- 
sioners, and the funds at their disposal. But they 
closed with the offer, and in a few months, the 
"Great West" became, by treaty, a portion of the 
domain of the United States. 

Spain objected to the violation of Napoleon's 
compact. The cession to the United States was 
directly contrary to his promise. He silenced 
Spain, so far as the cession was concerned ; but 
there still remained an unsettled question. What 
was the eastern boundary of Louisiana? Spain 
deemed that it included anything this side of the 
Mississippi, and Napoleon's government defended 



HENRY CLAY. 75 

her in the assumption. And yet it is said that 
he was prepared to claim and occupy to the river 
Perdido, the present western boundary of Florida. 
The French Commissioner to take possession of 
the colony for France, admitted this fact to a 
member of the United States Senate, as that 
gentleman declared on the floor of the Senate 
chamber. 

Thus the matter remained in dispute until 
1810. Congress passed laws at a much earlier 
period, asserting the sovereignty of the United 
States over the disputed territory, but they were 
not uniformly enforced, until, in the year above 
mentioned, President Madison issued a proclama- 
tion, and in pursuance of it, occupied the disputed 
ground. 

During Mr. Clay's second term of service as 
Senator, the act of Mr. Madison, in asserting 
jurisdiction east of the Mississippi, was the sub- 
ject of debate. Mr. Clay vindicated the measure, 
declaring that the President would have been 
criminally inattentive to his duty had he neg- 
lected to exercise the discretionary power vested 
in him by the Acts of Congress above referred to. 
He examined and stated the legal points of the 
matter at issue between the United States and 



76 LIFE OF 

Spain with the acuteness of a lawyer, and pressed 
the vindication of American honor with the 
warmth of a patriot. He demonstrated the 
necessity, to the United States, of the possession 
of the whole of Florida. He ridiculed the fear 
of foreign interference to protect Spain in her 
demands, and closed with the hope of seeing the 
United States embrace the whole country east of 
the Mississippi. None knew better than he the 
rights of this nation; and none more warmly 
resisted the pretence of European powers to 
retain unoccupied tracts on the continent, for the 
purpose of cession and retrocession in adjusting 
treaty balances. Mr. Madison was sustained by 
Congress in the step he had taken. 



HENRY CLAY. 77 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE BANK OF THE UNITED STATES — MR. CLAY IN 1811 — 
COW AND TURKEY — MR. CLAY IN 1816. 

The first Bank of the United States was char- 
tered by Act of Congress, in 1791, for the term 
of twenty years. We have not space, within our 
limits, to discuss at length the subject of Banks 
and Banking, and shall allude to it only so far 
as necessary to explain Mr. Clay's connection 
with it. And even that reference must be brief, 
since it will prove less interesting to our readers 
than any other portion of his life ; and, we may 
add, in such a work as this, less instructive. 

In 1811, came up the question of the re-charter 
of the Bank. No human institutions can be 
perfect; and while representative governments 
have high advantages over all others, there are 
certainly some respects in which they do not 
work to advantage. Banks dependent upon 
popular legislation for re-charter or continuance, 
are frequently liable to depreciation of credit. 



78 LIFE OF 

Such institutions should be not only above mer- 
cantile reproach, but above suspicion ; as fluctua- 
tions in the value of their stock and notes, occa- 
sion public losses to the advantage of speculators 
and stock operators. 

Availing ourselves of the labors of a distin- 
guished writer on the subject,* we condense from 
his summary view an abstract of the arguments 
by which the first Bank was defended. These 
were, the credit and value it Would impart to 
government stocks ; the convenience to the trea- 
sury in the collection and disbursement of the 
revenue of the government ; and the facilities it 
would afford to merchants and others. On the 
other hand, the opponents of the proposed Bank 
alleged that banking institutions were artful con- 
trivances of cunning men to grow rich at the 
expense of the people; that the Bank would 
tend to strengthen the hands of the Executive, 
already too strong; and that the charter was 
unconstitutional. The Bank was created by a 
very close vote, the democratic party going 
against it. It proved all that it promised in 
reference to raising the value of government 
securities. United States Stock being taken as 

, - ■ . . . — 

* Hildreth, on Banks and Banking. 



HENRY CLAY. 79 

payment. The advantages which it afforded to 
the Treasury Department were evident^ and its 
utility in that respect was great. 

But the objection that the institution would 
strengthen the Executive, was not without its 
proof in the trial. The first Bank became, from 
the force of circumstances, a party institution. 
It had been sustained by the friends of Hamilton, 
and opposed by the friends of Jefferson; and 
when, in 1811, the question of the re-charter 
came up, it was defeated by one vote in the 
Senate, having passed the House. The Senate 
vote was a tie, and the Vice President's vote 
decided the fate of the application. Mr. Clay 
made, against the Bank, one of his most effective 
speeches, from the echo of which he has never 
been able to escape. Mr. Clay gave to his consti- 
tuents, in 1816, three reasons for his opposition 
in 1811 : first, that he was instructed by the 
Legislature to oppose the re-charter; second, that 
he believed the corporation had, during a portion 
of the period of its existence, abused its power, 
and had sought to subserve the views of a poli- 
tical party ; and third, that as the power to 
create a corporation, such as was proposed to be 
continued, was not specifically granted in the 



80 LIFE OF 

Constitution, and as the bank did not then appear 
to him to be necessary to carry into effect any of ; 
the powers which were specifically granted, Con- 
gress was not authorised to continue it. To ■ 
relieve the dulness of this topic a little, it may 
be well to repeat an amusing passage from Mr. 
Clay's speech against the Bank, in 1811 : 

" A bank is made for the ostensible purpose of - 
the collection of the revenue ; and while it is 
engaged in this, the most inferior and subordinate 
of all its functions, it is made to diffuse itself i' 
throughout society, and to influence all the great 
operations of credit, circulation, and commerce. ■ 
Like the Virginia justice, you tell the man whose 
turkey had been stolen, that your books of prece- ' 
dent furnish no form for his case, but that you 
will grant him a precept to search for a cow, and \ 
when looking for that he may possibly find his • 
turkey ! You say to this corporation, we cannot 
authorise you to discount, to emit paper, to regu- 
late commerce, &c. No, our book has no prece- 
dent of that kind. But then we can authorise 
you to collect the revenue, and while occupied 
with that, you may do whatever else you please!" 

In 1816, upon the suggestion of President ; 
Madison, the second Bank of the United States 



*i 



HENRY CLAY. 81 



kvas chartered. Mr. Madison spake and voted 
iigainst the charter of the first Bank in 1791, and 
ndeed was active in opposition to the financial 
measures of Hamilton generally. Mr. Clay was 
Dne of the supporters of the new Bank, and 
exerted himself in its favor. This inconsistency 
bas often been charged against him ; but if incon- 
sistent, he was not alone; for the Bank chartered 
in 1816 was established by the votes of those who 
had been the most strenuous in their opposition 
to the re-charter of the first Bank. The argu- 
ment was, that at this crisis it was necessary, and 
therefore constitutional. 

We do not purpose to follow the subject further. 
The discussion, in which Mr. Clay took a very 
active part, was renewed under the administra- 
tion of General Jackson, who vetoed a third bank 
charter. The Independent Treasury scheme of 
lMr. Van Buren, and the efibrts to re-establish a 
Bank, under Mr. Tyler, kept up the controversy 
upon the currency for many years. It has now 
ceased. Mr. Webster declared, in one of his 
ispeeches, that a National Bank is " an obsolete 
idea;" and to the same conclusion all parties seem 
to have arrived at last. If a bank chartered by 
the United States is unconstitutional, except 
6 



82 LIFE OF 

when necessary to enable the government to carry 
on its operations, its unconstitutionality is estar 
blished by nearly twenty years' experience ; and 
no party will now be impolitic enough to under- 
take again to establish a National Bank. 

The jealousy of the great political parties has 
really had more to do with the question than any 
thing else. The democrats refused to re-charter 
the first Bank, because it was in the hands of 
federalists, and was charged with having been 
made their instrument ; and the federalists, actu- 
ated by a similar feeling, voted against the second 
Bank, because, as a democratic measure, it might 
become their ally. The third attempt was de- 
feated — certainly in part, if not altogether — on 
party grounds; and the paper currency of the 
country is well relieved from the inconveniences 
of a connection with national politics. The two 
banks unquestionably rendered good service in 
their day, with all their disadvantages. Each, at 
the close of wars which had impoverished the 
national exchequer, aided in the establishment 
of the national credit ; and each rendered other 
important services, in circumstances which will 
not again occur. For instance, the Bank of 1816 
relieved the Treasury of the United States of 



HENRY CLAY. 83 

thirteen millions of the notes of non-specie-paying 
banks. The country has gained in experience, 
and in the elements of true wealth, The first 
will forbid the renewal of the dangerous alliance 
of bank and state — dangerous not so much to the 
state as to the bank, and the pockets and business 
of the people — and the second will put banking 
upon its true basis, whether conducted under 
state or national charters, or followed as an indi- 
vidual and private business. 



84 -LIFE OF 



CHAPTER VIII. 

MR. CLAY SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
— CAUSES OF WAR — WAR RESOLUTIONS — BILLS FROM 
THE SENATE — MR. CLAY'S SPEECH IN COMMITTEE — 
JOHN RANDOLPH, OF ROANOKE. 

We have seen Mr. Clay twice a member of the 
Congress of the United States as Senator, filling 
the unexpired terms of others. In 1811, he 
received the higher popular honour of an election 
to the House of Kepresentatives. 

President Madison had summoned Congress to 
meet a month earlier than usual, on account of 
the disturbed condition of our foreign relations. 
Mr. Clay appeared in his place on Monday, 
November 4th, and was at once elected Speaker 
of the House. He received seventy-five votes 
out of one hundred and twenty-eight. On taking 
the chair, he acknowledged the honor done him, 
briefly and pertinently as follows : — 

" Gentlemen, — In coming to the station which 
you have done me the honor to assign me — an 



f! 




HENRY CLAY THE STATESMAN. 



HENRY CLAY. 85 

honor for which you will be pleased to accept my 
thanks — I obey rather your commands than my 
inclination. I am sensible of the imperfections 
which I bring along with me, and a consciousness 
of these would deter me from attempting a dis- 
charge of the duties of the chair, did I not rely 
confidently on your generous support. Should 
the rare and delicate occasion present itself, when 
your Speaker should be called upon to check or 
control the wanderings or intemperance of debate, 
your justice will, I hope, ascribe to his interposi- 
tion the motives only of public good, and a regard 
to the dignity of the House. And, in all in- 
stances be assured, gentlemen, that I shall with 
infinite pleasure, afford every facihty in my 
power to the despatch of public business, in the 
most agreeable manner." 

The position of Speaker of the House, always 
one of importance, was forty years ago of even 
greater consequence than now. As- we have had 
before occasion to remark, the policy of the 
government, and the Congressional usages of the 
United States, were as yet undetermined ; and it 
was Mr. Clay's delicate duty to decide on points 
where he could not appeal to past usage. We 
may observe in evidence of his impartiality, that 

8 



86 LIFE OF 

although he had frequent occasion to differ from 
members, yet in no case during the term that he 
presided, was his decision reversed by appeal to 
the House. His election was an indication of the 
temper in which Congress had assembled, as 
regarded our foreign relations. The nation was 
exasperated to resistance against European en- 
croachments, and Mr. Clay was regarded as the 
champion of a decided, and, if need should arise, 
of a warlike policy. His occupation of the chair 
precluded him from the opportunity of making 
himself felt as an orator, except when the House' 
was in "Committee of the Whole." On such 
occasions, the Speaker leaves the chair, and ap- 
points a temporary chairman of the committee. 

The intention of submitting questions to the 
Committee of the Whole, is to allow greater 
latitude in debate. The resolutions and votes of 
the House in Committee, are not binding or final, 
until formally taken up in the House, after the 
rising of the Committee. Thus, subjects are 
discussed with more freedom. The Committee 
of the Whole has been not inaptly termed a 
"debating club;" and perhaps that is its best 
designation. 

President Madison's Message, on the opening 



HENRY CLAY. 87 

of Congress, recommended placing the country in 
an attitude of defence and resistance to the ag- 
gressions of European powers, to which we have 
frequently referred in these pages. The conduct 
of Great Britain was particularly oppressive. In 
enforcing her claim to the right of search for her 
own subjects, her cruisers impressed seamen from 
American vessels to the number of several thou- 
sands. How many of these were really British 
subjects, and what proportion were natives of 
America, cannot be precisely stated; but it was 
urged by Americans that all, whether native or 
adopted citizens, who sailed under the American 
flag, were entitled to its protection. Impressment, 
and compulsory service in a man-of-war, is hard 
enough for those who acknowledge the sovereignty 
of a government which pursues such an oppres- 
sive policy; but when natives of another countr}^, 
or those who have elected that other country for 
their future allegiance, are forcibly seized, such 
an outrage merits the appellation of " man-steal- 
ing," which was freely applied to it. 

Another grievance was the proclamation by 
Great Britain, that all the ports of France were 
in a state of blockade, and the seizure of Ameri- 
can vessels, any where upon the ocean, which 



88 LIFE OF 

were bound to French ports. A blockade, to be 
legal, must have a sufficient force to maintain it; 
a force stationed off the blockaded port, to arrest 
the vessels entering; but when the blockade is 
merely a proclamation, and vessels are seized 
wherever found, the act becomes one of war upon 
neutral powers. 

Such were the leading causes of complaint 
against Great Britain. From similar acts of 
injustice, France was by no means free. The 
French Government interrupted our commerce 
nearly to as great an extent as Great Britain, 
only that France did not impress our seamen; 
and this violation of the personal rights and 
liberties of American citizens, was the popular 
ground of enmity to Great Britain. It excited 
a determination to resist; and it opened a path for 
young politicians to popular support and sym- 
pathy. Henry Clay was one of the acknowledged 
leaders of "Young America" at this period, and 
as such he was elected to Congress, and placed in 
the Speakers chair of the House of Eepresen- 
tatives. He was impetuous and daring — and in 
his early days carried his measures with a will as 
strong as his words were eloquent. 

The Speaker has the appointment of standing 



P! 



HENRY CLAY. 89 



committees; and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations, appointed by Mr. Clay, early reported. 
The report represented that France had practi- 
cally desisted from her encroachments on Ameri- 
can commerce, while Great Britain still adhered 
to her oppressive course, and the Committee 
concluded with a series of appropriate resolutions. 
These recommended the increase of the regular 
army, the fitting out of all the national vessels, 
the acceptance of the services of volunteers, and 
permission to merchant vessels to arm in their 
own defence. All these resolutions were carried 
by large majorities, but not without warm debate. 
The minority — at the head of whom stood the 
able, though eccentric, John Randolph of Roa- 
noke — combated these measures at every stage; 
but, contrary to custom and precedent, the report 
was not taken up in Committee of the Whole, 
and Mr. Clay had therefore no opportunity to 
speak upon the subject, when it was first pre- 
sented to the House. 

But while these resolutions were debated in the 
House of Representatives, the Senate had been 
more practically prompt. They had already 
passed bills for largely increasing the regular 
army, even beyond what the administration 

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90 LIFE OF 

desired. When the Senate bill, for the increase 
of the army, came to the House and was taken 
up in Committee of the Whole, Mr. Clay improved 
the opportunity, not before accorded him, to 
speak upon the subject. He commenced his 
remarks by stating that he should not complain 
of the course of proceeding which had been 
adopted, except for its effect in preventing him 
from participating in the debate, and assuming 
his share in the responsibility for the measures 
which the exigency of the times, in his opinion, 
demanded. 

Mr. Clay urged the raising of a large army, 
and reasoned that upon the mere consideration 
of economy, a large and effective force was the 
best. " I do not stand," he said, " on this floor 
as the advocate of standing armies in the time of 
peace ; but when war becomes essential, I am the 
advocate of raising able and vigorous armies to 
insure its success." Against the danger of the 
domination of a standing army over the liberties 
of the people, he opposed their general political 
information, and the fact of the existence of a 
powerful militia, " ready to point their bayonets 
to the breast of any tyrant who may attempt to 
crush their freedom." And in reply to those who 



IIKXRY CLAY. 91 

feared the danger of invasion, Mr. Clay said: 
"Paris was taken, and all France consequently 
subjugated. London might be subdued, and 
England would fall before the conqueror. But 
the population and strength of this country are 
concentrated in no one place. Philadelphia may 
be invaded — New York or Boston may fall — 
every sea-port may be taken, but the country will 
remain free. The whole of our territory this side 
of the Alleghanies may be invaded, still liberty 
will not be subdued. * ^'' '•" The national 
government ; one or more of the state sovereign- 
ties, may be annihilated — the country will yet be 
safe." 

Such was Mr. Clay's earnestness and ardor in 
the war cause. His expressions seem to us, at 
this distance of time, like hyperbole; and his 
contempt for all the dangers of war, like extra- 
vagance. As we have before remarked, he was 
the representative of the young men, who proba- 
bly desired to emulate the course of their elders, 
who were enjoying, in old age, the dignity won 
by service in the days of the Eevolution, and the 
troublesome times which followed. These same 
old men were not yet out of the national councils, 
and their cautious policy, had it been followed, 



92 LIFE OF 

would not have precipitated war, though they 
might have been driven to it at last, after even 
longer delay. They knew the dangers and diffi- 
culties of a state of warfare, and the high price 
at which whatever is won by war is purchased. 
"Young America" took the direction out of the 
hands of the old statesman ; for even President 
Madison never heartily sympathised with the 
zeal of the younger and more enthusiastic mem- 
bers of the war party. 

Mr. Clay himself, after the experience obtained 
during the war he had so zealously supported, 
spake in a tone which contrasts strongly with the 
sentiments which we have quoted above. In 
1811, he argued that although nothing were left 
of the national government, still "the country 
would be safe." In 1818, he said "it is not every 
cause of war which should lead to war. War is 
one of those dreadful scourges that so shakes the 
foundations of society, overturns or changes the 
characters of governments, interrupts or destroys 
the pursuit of private happiness, brings, in short, 
misery and wretchedness in so many forms, and 
at last is in its issue so doubtful and hazardous, 
that nothing but dire necessity can justify an 
appeal to arms." Experience teaches — and that 



I 



HENRY CLAY. 93 

course is ever safest which, though impelled by the 
activity of youthful and ardent actors, like Mr. 
Clay in 1811, is guided and moderated by older 
men, whose monitor is memory of the past. 

Much of the warmth and extravagance of 
public speeches are attributable to the excitement 
of debate. Under its influence, men say more 
than they intend; more than, under circum- 
stances favorable to calm reflection, they could 
utter. The terror of the advocates of a war with 
Great Britain was, at this time, John Kandolph 
of Roanoke. Mr. Randolph was not a member 
of the Federal party, for in that case his attacks 
would have been less feared. He claimed to 
belong to the democratic side of the House, and 
as the war was a democratic measure, his resist- 
ance had a double weight. Mr. Randolph's style 
pf oratory — discursive yet pointed — sarcastic, 
severe, and full of caustic wit, made him the 
most dangerous opponent that party or individual 
could have to deal with. It is said that Mr. Clay 
pwed his election as Speaker to the hope that his 
known fearlessness and dignity of character might 
bold Randolph in check. 

Mr. Randolph had been, in 1811, eleven years 
in the House of Representatives. His first 



94 LIFE OF 

utterance there was characteristic. On account 
of his extremely youthful appearance, the 
Speaker said to him, as he presented himself to 
take the oath of office, "Are you old enough, sir, 
to be eligible?" "Ask my constituents," was the 
only answer that Eandolph designed to make to 
this inquiry. Mr. Kandolph's secession from the 
regular democratic ranks occurred during Jeffer- 
son's administration. He voted against a resolu- 
tion which was introduced to cease importation 
from Great Britain. Through Madison's adminis- 
tration, he strenuously opposed the war measures, 
and all that tended to strengthen army or navy, 
or to give the nation a military character ; and in ; 
opposition to the measures now directly before i 
the House, Mr. Randolph had made one of his 
most effective speeches. To him, as well as , 
others, Mr. Clay was replying ; and as they had 
dwelt much upon the power, and extolled the 
national character of Great Britain, he took the 
opposite side with a natural, though excessive 
warmth. i 

The bill under discussion passed the House by a , 
large majority — ninety-four to thirty-four. Next 
in order came provisions for a Navy, the account 
of which we reserve for another chapter. 



P! 



HENRY CLAY. 95 



CHAPTER IX. 

the navy under jefferson — timid project of mr. 
Madison's cabinet — remonstrances of naval offi- 
cers — BILL TO increase THE NAVY — SPEECH OF MR. 
CLAY — NAVAL HISTORY OF THE WAR OF 1812. 

The policy of Mr. Jefferson had been decidedly 
against a navy. When he came into office, in 
1801, he found a law enacted by the Congress 
which expired as his term commenced, which law 
was designed to put the Navy on a peace establish- 
ment. This act empowered the President to sell 
any or all of the vessels of the Navy, with the 
exception of thirteen of the frigates. But the 
design of the law was not to extinguish or pre- 
vent the increase of the navy. By the same act, 
$500,000 (half a million) annually, were appro- 
priated, toward the completion of six seventy- 
four-gun ships, authorised in 1798. 

Under Mr. Jefferson's administration, all the 
vessels in the navy, except the thirteen frigates, 
and one small cruiser of twelve guns, were sold. 



96 LIFE OF 

The appropriation for the seventy-fours was dis- 
continued, and the timber collected for them was 
cut up to build gun-boats. The loss from the 
navy of the vessels sold was not much to be 
regretted, as they were mostly of imperfect 
frames, or poor models; but they should certainly 
have been replaced by something better than 
gun-boats. The whole number sold was twenty, 
carrying from twelve to twenty-four guns each, 
and nine galleys. 

From 1801 to 1811, not a frigate was added to 
the navy. Of the thirteen in existence in 1801,1 
one — the Philadelphia — had been destroyed, and 
three had fallen into decay, leaving nine only. 
One hundred and seventy gun-boats had been 
built, and nine small vessels added, carrying from 
twelve to eighteen guns. The impression was 
prevalent, that it was impossible to keep a navy 
at sea in the face of the overwhelming force of 
Great Britain, which embraced not less than a 
thousand sail. A project was actually entertained 
by the President to lay up in ordinary the few 
vessels which the United States possessed, to keep 
them from falling into the hands of the enemy !i 
This policy had been determined on, but was 
changed by the efforts of two ofiicers of the navy. 



HENRY CLAY. 97 

Captains Bainbridge and Stewart, happening to 
be at the seat of government, were shown copies 
of orders to Commodore Rodgers, not to leave 
New York, but to keep the vessels under his 
command in port, to form part of its harbor 
defence. They obtained an audience of Presi- 
dent Madison, and convinced him of the impolicy 
and of the ruinous effect of such a course. Still the 
i Cabinet, the President's constitutional advisers, 
adhered to their opinion. The two naval officers 
then addressed a letter to the President, who, 
after reading their arguments, took upon himself 
to change the plan. It is said that some members 
of the Cabinet consoled themselves with the 
reflection that if the vessels ventured out they 
would soon be taken ; the administration would 
be saved the expense and trouble of maintaining 
them, and thus be enabled to devote all its care 
to the army."^ So little do nations, as well as 
individuals, understand their true strength ! 

A bill was reported in the House of Eepre- 

sentatives, in the spring of 1812, providing for 

ten new frigates, and a dock for repairs. The 

members of the Naval Committee, by whom the 

I bill was reported, hinted in their speeches at a 

* Cooper's Naval History. 

9 



i 



98 LIFE OF 

much larger force than this. But there was a 
very determined opposition to the support of a 
navy; a subject upon which, as we have seen, 
even the President and his Cabinet hesitated. 
Henry Clay raised his strong voice in defence of 
the naval arm. We make some extracts from his 
speech : 

" It appeared to Mr. Clay a little extraordinary 
that so much, as it seemed to him unreasonable 
jealousy should exist against the naval establish- 
ment. If," said he, " we look back to the period 
of the formation of the Constitution, it will be 
found that no such jealousy was then excited. 
In placing the physical force of the nation at the 
disposal of Congress, the convention manifested 
much greater apprehension of abuse in the power 
given to raise armies than in that to provide a 
navy. In reference to the navy, Congress is put 
under no restrictions; but with respect to the 
army — that description of force which has been 
so often employed to subvert the liberties of 
mankind — they are subjected to limitations 
designed to prevent the abuse of this dangerous 
power. But it was not his intention to detain 
the Committee, by a discussion on the compara- 
tive utility and safety of these two kinds of force. 



HENRY CLAY, 99 

He would, however, be indulged in saying, that 
I he thought gentlemen had wholly failed in main- 
taining the position they had assumed, that the 
fall of maritime powers was attributable to their 
navies. They have told you that Carthage, 
Genoa, and Venice, and other nations, had navies, 
and notwithstanding were finally destroyed. But 
have they shown, by a train of argument, that 
their overthrow was in any degree attributable to 
their maritime greatness? Have they attempted, 
even, to show that there exists, in the nature of 
this power, a necessary tendency to destroy the 
nation using it? Assertion is substituted for 
. argument ; inferences not authorised by historical 
; facts are arbitrarily drawn ; things unconnected 
with each other are associated together ; — a very 
i logical mode of reasoning, it must be admitted! 
i In the same way, he could demonstrate how idle 
: and absurd our attachments are to freedom itself. 
He might say, for instance, that Greece and Rome 
had forms of free government, and that they no 
; longer exist ; and, deducing their fall from their 
devotion to liberty, the conclusion in favor of 
despotism would very satisfactorily follow ! He 
demanded what there is in the nature and con- 
struction of maritime power, to excite the fears 



100 LIFE OF 

that have been indulged ? Do gentlemen really 
apprehend, that a body of seamen will abandon 
their proper element, and placing themselves 
under an aspiring chief, will erect a throne to his 
ambition ? Will they deign to listen to the voice 
of history, and learn how chimerical are these , 
apprehensions?" Mr. Clay did not conceive it j 
practicable to create a fleet which could cope with 
Great Britain; but he did think it within the 
power of the nation to provide a naval force 
adequate to protect our harbors, coasting trade, 
and inland navigation. He argued the necessity 
of a maritime power, from the necessity of com- 
merce to a nation's greatness. "But," he said, 
"from the arguments of gentlemen, it woul(J ii 
seem to be questioned if foreign commerce is 
worth the kind of protection insisted upon. What 
is this foreign commerce which has become sud- 
denly so inconsiderable? It has, with very ■] 
trifling aid from other sources, defrayed the ex- 
penses of government ever since the adoption of 
the present constitution; maintained an expen- 
sive and successful war with the Indians ; a war 
with the Barbary powers; a quasi war with 
France; sustained the charges of suppressing two 
insurrections, and extinguished upwards of forty- 



HENRY CLAY. 101 

six millions of the public debt. In revenue, it 
has, since the year 1789, yielded one hundred 
and ninety-one millions of dollars. During the 
first four years after the commencement of the 
present government, the revenue averaged only 
about two millions annually, or became equivalent 
to a capital of two hundred and fifty millions of 
dollars, at an interest of six per centum per 
annum. And if our commerce be re-established, 
it will, in the course of time, net a sum for which 
we are scarcely furnished with figures in arith- 
metic. Taking the average of the last nine years 
(comprehending, of course, the season of the 
embargo,) our exports average upward of thirty- 
seven millions of dollars, which is equivalent to 
a capital of more than six hundred millions of 
dollars at six per centum interest ; all of which 
must be lost in the event of a destruction of 
foreign commerce. In the abandonment of that 
commerce is also involved the sacrifice of our 
brave tars, who have engaged in the pursuit from 
which they derive subsistence and support, under 
the confidence that government would afibrd 
them that just protection which is due to all. 
They will be driven into foreign employment, for 

9* 



102 LIFE OF 

it is vain to expect that they will renounce their 
habits of life." 

As a verification of Mr. Clay's predictions, we 
may remark that the exports of the country, 
embracing domestic products only, now exceed 
one hundred millions annually; and if we include 
the foreign articles re-shipped, the amount will 
be increased some twenty-five millions more. ( 
The valuable coasting and internal trade of the i 
United States, especially since the acquisition of j 
California, is another vast source of business and 
employment for our mariners and others con- 
nected with the shipping and transportation < 
interests. The number of vessels built annually 
is nearly two thousand, about one-fifth of which | 
are steam-boats, and another fifth vessels of the 
larger classes. This annual supply is more than 
the whole loss during the war of 1812, by capture 
or otherwise. The character of the American 
mercantile marine is now second to none in the 
world. Vessels under the American flag success- 
fully compete with British ships in her own , 
carrying trade between the mother country and 
her distant possessions. The flag of the United • 
States is seen upon every sea, and is everywhere ; 
respected. Mr. Clay mentioned as a remarkable 



HENRY CLAY. 103 

fact, in the speech above quoted, that an Ameri- 
can vessel had arrived at Leghorn from Pitts- 
burgh. It is frequently the case now that ships 
depart from cities still farther inland upon our 
great rivers ; but it is proper to remark that they 
do not return to the place of their first clearance. 
They can descend these rivers, but not ascend 
them ; and the purpose of economy is served, in 
the first instance, by launching them where the 
timber for their frames can be most easily pro- 
cured. 

The number of vessels in the United States' 
Navy now, is still less than one hundred, includ- 
ing ten seventy-four-gun ships, and twenty-five 
frigates. The steam arm of the service, which 
has come into use since the war with Great Bri- 
tain, is now rapidly increasing. The annual 
expense of the naval service averages about 
'seven millions, including the mail service between 
'this country and Great Britain. 

During the war of 1812, the gallant little navy 
'of the United States won a distinction which 
'placed our country among the chief naval powers, 
'and demonstrated that the nautical skill of the 
British seamen has not deteriorated by being 
transferred to a new country. " Brother Jona- 



104 LIFE OF 

than" has proved worthy of his parentage. We 
have not space, nor would it be in keeping with 
our purpose, to enter into war details, by land or 
sea. Suffice it to say, that the captures by the 
United States' Navy and privateers amounted, 
during the war, to seventeen hundred and fifty, 
leaving out of the count the vessels which were 
re-captured. The British Navy captured of 
American vessels, including gun-boats, sixteen 
hundred and eighty-three. The United States 
came out of the war with a naval reputation 
which they have never lost. Since that date, 
the services rendered to commerce and science j 
by explorations and surveys, have more than 
justified the friends of the navy in their defence 
of its establishment and support. 

We need hardly state that the bill which Mr. 
Clay advocated was passed, and proved the com- 
mencement of a more liberal policy toward the 
navy than had hitherto prevailed in the party 
with which he acted. The small appropriation 
($500,000 in all) which the bill provided, was 
followed by more and larger grants. Experience j 
has shown that the young statesman's predictions 
relative to the imj)ortance and value of commerce 
to the nation, were rather within than beyond 
the truth. 






HENRY CLAY. 105 



CHAPTER X. 

henry's embassy — DECLARATION OF WAR. 

There were some indications of an intention in 
the Cabinet to take a step which would have 
given Henry Clay a place among the military 
heroes of his country. It is a historical fact that 
the moderation, prudence, or hesitancy of Mr. 
Madison's character, delayed positive action until 
urged by the Congressional war-party, and of this 
the soul was Henry Clay. Forty years have 
produced such a change in the public sentiment 
in relation to war and its evils, that it is hard to 
try the friends of the war of 1812 by our present 
standard of opinion. Yet we have seen, in a 
' recent case, war produced on much less pressing 
occasion than that of 1812 — if indeed there was 
any pressing occasion for the late war with 
Mexico. There was everything to irritate the 
popular mind against Great Britain ; and not the 
least grievance was the despatching an emissary 



106 LIFE OF 

into New England, to labor to produce disunion, 
or neutrality. It is true that this agent does not 
seem to have reached the ear of any responsible 
party, or to have produced any impression ; and 
his haunts while in Boston exhibited him as a 
person of moral associations as low as his political 
employment was disgraceful, xind it is true also 
that the British Government subsequently disa- 
vowed having given authority for his proceedings, 
though his employment by a colonial governor 
was certainly a fact. The truth respecting him 
appears to be, that he was a man with a natural 
proclivity for dirty work ; and that he suggested 
and procured the employment, which resulted in 
nothing but furnishing new cause of exaspera- 
tion to the American people. He concluded by 
selling his correspondence with the colonial 
authorities and the British Ministry, to the 
American Government. 

This correspondence was transmitted to Con- 
gress. There was nothing incredible in the 
statement that Great Britain was prepared to 
take advantage of any difficulty among the states 
preparing for war against her, or to create, if 
possible, a difficulty where none existed. It 
would be a part of that diplomatic strategy which 



ri 



HENRY CLAY. 107 



nations striving to injure each other, or to defend 
themselves, often practise. 

The next prominent event in order of time, is 
ithe second embargo, as it was termed, the first 
[having occurred during Jefferson's administration. 
jMr. Randolph and others strenuously opposed — 
Mr. Clay earnestly defended it, and predicted that 
war would take place in sixty days. In enume- 
rating the causes of offence which Great Britain 
had furnished, Mr. Clay referred to the mission 
of Henry as that of "an emissary, sent to one of 
I our principal cities to excite civil war." The 
! Embargo Act, prepared by the Committee on 
, Foreign Relations before the President's Message 
was received, and reported almost simultaneously, 
was carried through the House, seventy to forty- 
one, in secret session on the same day. It passed 
the Senate on the next day, with an amendment 
lengthening the time of the embargo from sixty 
to ninety days, which amendment was concurred 
in. The bill — declared emphatically by its 
(framers to be a war measure — thus became a 
(law. 

On the 1st of June, 1812, the President trans- 
mitted confidentially to Congress a Message, in 
which he recapitulated the oppressive, unfriendly, 



108 LIFE OF 

and unjust proceedings of Great Britain, and 
presented the two nations as in a peculiar atti- 
tude — war against the United States, so far as 
Great Britain was concerned, and peace toward 
Great Britain, so far as the United States was ' 
considered ; and he submitted the choice of fur- 
ther endurance, or of warlike resistance, to Con- 
gress, as " a solemn question which the Constitu- 
tion wisely confides to the legislative departpaent 
of the government." i 

The Message was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Relations, and in two days thereafter,. 
John C. Calhoun, the chairman, reported a billf 
declaring war against Great Britain. It was 
passed, seventy-nine to forty-nine. No speeches 
are recorded, and the only efforts made by the 
opposition, were by ineifectual motions intended 
to defeat or delay, which were at once voted 
down. Though so summarily passed by the 
House, the Senate held the bill two wrecks with 
closed doors. On the 18th of June, it was re-' 
turned to the House with an amendment author- 
ising the issue of commissions to privateers. On 
the same day, the amendment was concurred in 
by the House, the bill was passed, and received 
the President's approval; and on the next day 



HENRY CLAY. 109 

was issued the President's Proclamation in pursu- 
ince of the Act. 

Thus in sixty days — with a few days' grace for 
Senatorial delays — was Mr. Clay's prediction 
verified, and the country was at war with Great 
Britain. The simultaneous preparation of the 
Embargo Act and Message of the President — 
both done out of the House, the latter of course 
— and the wonderful celerity with which the 
House acted on the "War Message, argue a closer 
connection between the Executive and his friends 
in Congress, than more modern usage permits. 
But the history of the times shows that several 
members of the House, at the head of whom was 
Henry Clay, had nearly as much voice in the 
President's councils, as his Cabinet proper. Presi- 
dential messages followed Congressional conclaves 
with the Executive; and the message recom- 
mending or suggesting war, was preceded by a 
conference with Mr. Clay and others, the subject 
(Of which was, at the time, no secret. There is 
ino doubt that Mr. Clay was as active in procuring 
war measures, as he was energetic in defending 
them, and patriotic in his efforts to maintain the 
cause of his country. His zealous eloquence, in 

10 



110 LIFE OF 

Kentucky, added to the zeal and fire of the citi- 
zens of that warlike State. ' 

It is related of Demosthenes, that courageous ' 
as he was in his orations against the enemies of 
Athens, in the field his valor failed him, and he ' 
fled. We cannot suppose that Henry Clay would ' 
have resembled the Athenian in this particular, 
though no modern orator has more nearly ap-' 
proached the father of eloquence in power of ' 
persuasion, and command of the minds and 
actions of others. Mr. Madison proposed, as^ 
hinted at the commencement of this chapter, to 
nominate Mr. Clay to the Senate a Major-General,!- 
when making the new appointments upon the' 
increase of the army. We can now only specu-' 
late on the probabilities of Mr. Clay's fitness or 
unfitness; but so far as patriotism and courage' 
go to make up the qualifications of a military 
ofiicer, there can be little doubt of his fitness.' 
His laurels have, however, been won in a more 
peaceful field ; and the services he has rendered 
to his country are of a nature for which expe- 
rience has proved him eminently fitted ; for his 
best fame rests on his course since the war. 

As we have already said, he was the soul of 
the war-party, his ardent and impetuous charac- 



■ 



HENRY CLAY. Ill 

ter communicating zeal and hope, when a more 
cautious man would have failed. It was a fearful 
crisis in the history of our country, when the fire 
of youth prevailed over the caution of age, and 
a nation lamentably deficient in means and in 
preparation, was thrust into a contest with the 
most powerful nation on the globe. If ever wars 
are necessary, the strongest plea existed for this 
war; and if any man, more than another, merits 
the reputation of procuring its declaration, that 
credit is due to Henry Clay. 

His most effective and eloquent war-speech was 
on the question of increasing the army, in the 
session of 1812-13. We cannot make extracts 
without the quotation of passages perpetuating 
old subjects of bitterness, and reviving charges 
against American statesmen and parties ; — 
charges then received in the heat of party acri- 
mony, but now forgotten. We therefore here 
close the narrative of Mr. Clay's connection, as a 
legislator, with the war of 1812. 



112 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XI. 

MR. CLAY APPOINTED PEACE COMMISSIONER — RETORT 
COURTEOUS — BRITISH DEMANDS — LONG NEGOTIATION — 
THE TREATY — REJOICINGS AND COMPLAINTS — THE 
LONDON TIMES — MR. CLAY'S SPEECH IN LEXINGTON — 
ANECDOTE. 

In the year 1813, the good offices of Kussia 
were tendered as mediator between the United 
States and Great Britain. The President ap- 
pointed Gallatin and Bayard to act jointly with 
J. Q. AdamSj the American Minister at St. 
Petersburgh, in conducting this negotiation ; and 
those gentlemen sailed for Europe in a private 
vessel, protected by a " cartel," or letter of pro- 
tection from the British admiral. But the 
British Government declined the mediation of 
Russia, and offered to treat directly with the 
American Commissioners in London; or, if that 
were not agreeable, in Gottenburgh. The Presi- 
dent appointed Adams, Bayard, Henry Clay, and 
Jonathan Russel, the Commissioners under this 



HENRY CLAY. 113 

proposition, and afterwards added Gallatin to the 
number, making ^ve ; and the place of meeting 
was changed from Gottenburgh to Ghent. 

Mr. Clay took leave of the House January 
19th, 1814, resigning his seat, and receiving a 
vote of thanks nearly unanimous ; nine only 
voting in the negative, out of 123 votes cast. 
Having presided in such difficult times, when 
party feeling ran so very high, so general an ex- 
pression of good will is a highly honorable testi- 
mony to the impartiality of Mr. Clay. Messrs. 
Clay and Kussel sailed in February, in the U. S. 
ship John Adams, carrying the protection of a 
cartel. The American Commissioners in due 
time assembled at Ghent, but the British Com- 
missioners did not meet them there until August. 
The treaty was not signed until the 24th of 
December, 1814. Much time was spent in 
negotiation, and much firmness was necessary to 
resist the enormous demands of the British Com- 
missioners. Flushed with their victory over 
Napoleon, they came into the negotiation pre- 
pared to dictate terms, as to a conquered people. 

There is an anecdote of Mr. Clay which 
belongs in this connection, and is too good to be 
lost. Mr. Goulburn, one of the British Commis- 

10* 



114 LIFE OF 

sioners, forwarded to Mr. Clay, at Brussels, a 
London paper containing the official account of 
the burning of the public buildings at Washing- 
ton, by the British forces, Mr. Goulburn made 
an apology for the disagreeable nature of the 
intelligence, but presumed that Mr. Clay would 
probably still desire to hear the latest intelligence 
from America. It so happened that the French 
journals were just re-publishing the account of 
the British defeat on Lake Champlain. Mr. 
Clay returned Mr. Goulburn's civility by enclos- 
ing to him a French paper with that intelligence, 
accompanied by a similar apology. 

Of the spirit in which the more violent British 
prints discussed the question of a treaty, some- 
thing may be judged from the following para- 
graphs : " It was strongly reported on 'Change, 
that it is the fixed determination of our govern- 
ment [the British] not to suffer the Americans to 
fish upon the Banks of Newfoundland, and that 
no American vessel will be permitted to pass the 
Cape .of Good Hope; so that the whole of the 
China trade will be taken from them." The 
London Times of May 20, 1814, had the fol- 
lowing : 

^^ Bonaparte is fallen — Madison is disgraced 



HENRY CLAY. 115 

and discomfited, and Great Britain has the means 
of inflicting ample and deserved vengeance. Lo ! 
the pupils of liberality, the philanthropists, the 
sworn advocates of foreign perfidy and treachery, 
step forth and deprecate the very idea of justice, 
or of prudent precaution against future insult. 
But they will no more be listened to now, than 
when they so urgently pleaded the cause of the 
monster, Bonaparte. It is true that negotiators 
of great respectability have been appointed on 
the part of Great Britain, to meet the Genevese 
democrat Gallatin, the furious orator Clay, the 
surly Bayard, and Mr. Russel, the worthy 
defender of the forged revocation of the Berlin 
and Milan decree. 

"We have, however, good reason to believe 
that the British diplomatists will not condescend 
to discuss the impudent nonsense called the 
American doctrine, about impressment and native 
allegiance, which was in truth a mere pretext for 
war on the part of Mr. Madison ; but they will 
enter into the true merits of the question — the 
unprovoked and unprincipled attack on Canada ; 
they will demand full security against a renewal 
of this atrocious outrage ; they will insist on the 
safe and undivided possession of the lakes ; the 



116 LIFE OF 

abandonment of the Newfoundland fishery ; and 
the restitution of Louisiana and the usurped 
territory in Florida." 

Such were the newspaper notions of what the 
British Commissioners should demand; and the 
claims with which those gentlemen entered upon 
the negotiation, were little short of what the 
Times demanded. The Commissioners claimed 
that the United States should set off a permanent 
Indian territory for the British Indian allies, 
between the United States and Canada ; that we 
should dismantle our forts, and withdraw our 
vessels on the great lakes; and that Great Britain 
should keep possession of a portion of Maine 
which she had seized, east of the river Penobscot. 

The treaty, as signed, contained no concessions 
to Great Britain; and, as in all treaties where 
nations are desirous of peace, no grants were 
finally insisted on by either side. If Great 
Britain did not, in terms, relinquish her political 
claim, " once a subject always a subject," neither 
did the United States admit it ; and the effect of 
the war has practically been to abolish impress- 
ment of men on board of American vessels. The 
British lost the right of navigating the Missis- 
sippi. The Americans lost that of curing fish on 






HENRY'CLAY. 117 



the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The 
fisheries have since been arranged by a separate 
treaty, under which United States vessels may 
catch fish, except within three miles (a cannon- 
shot) of the shore ; but they cannot land them, 
as formerly, for the purpose of dressing and 
curing. It was proposed, in the discussion, to 
place these privileges as they were before the 
war; but Mr. Clay refused his assent, and the 
result proves his sagacity. The boundaries 
between the two powers, on this continent, have 
since been determined both in Maine, and west 
of the great lakes. 

The jpeojole of both countries were delighted at 
the proclamation of peace. Great rejoicings took 
place in this country, and in the other. A sketch 
of the terms on which the treaty had been con- 
cluded, was read to the audiences in the London 
theatres. In the provincial towns, there were 
great rejoicings ; particularly in those which had 
most intercourse with the United States. In our 
own country, the opponents of the war insisted 
that nothing had been gained, though the wiser 
were satisfied with any peace rather than war. 
But if there were those who insisted that the 
Americans had gained nothing, there were others 



118 LIF*E OF 

in Great Britain who claimed no honor to British 
arms or negotiation. The London Times of the 
30th December, 1815, not having yet heard of 
the Battle of New Orleans, said : 

" We have attempted to force our principles on 
America, and have failed. We have retired from 
the combat with the stripes yet bleeding on our 
backs — -with the various recent defeats at Platts- 
burgh, and on Lake Cham plain, unavenged. To 
make peace at such a moment, it will be said, 
betrays a deadness to the feelings of honor, and 
shows a timidity of disposition inviting further 
insult. If we could have pointed to America 
overthrown, we should surely have stood on much 
higher ground at Vienna, and everywhere else, 
than we possibly can do now. Even yet, how- 
ever, if we could but close the war with some 
great naval triumph, the reputation of our mari- 
time greatness might be partially restored; but to 
say that it has not hitherto suffered in the esti- 
mation of all Europe, and what is worse, of 
America herself, is to belie common sense and 
universal experience. ^ Two or three of our ships 
have struck to a force vastly superior.' No, not 
two or three, but many on the ocean, and whole 
squadrons on the lakes ; and the numbers are to 



HENRY CLAY. 119 

be viewed with relation to the comparative mag- 
nitude of the two navies. Scarcely is there an 
American ship of war which has not to boast a 
victory over the British flag ; scarcely a British 
ship in thirty or forty that has beaten an Ame- 
rican." 

The mortified editor of the Times had still to 
hear of the Battle of New Orleans, after the 
above was penned. The naval engagements 
which took place after the signing of the treaty, 
added to the list of American successes. The 
treaty took effect on land as soon as ratified ; and 
on the ocean at certain specified times, to allow 
opportunity to hear of the proclamation of peace. 
There were three United States vessels at sea 
when peace was proclaimed — the Constitution, 
the Hornet, and the Peacock. The Constitution 
captured the Cyane and Levant, engaging both at 
once; but afterward lost the Levant in a squadron 
of British vessels. The Hornet captured the 
Penguin, but it became necessary to destroy her 
prize; and the Peacock captured the Nautilus, 
but restored her on the day following. 

Mr. Clay returned to the United States almost 
with the honors of a conqueror. At no time was 
he more highly popular than at the close of the 



120 LIFE OF 

war; for up to this date, the acts of his life 
which partisan opposition has effectively opposed 
to him, had not occurred. As we have presented 
him to our readers as the most active supporter 
of the war of 1812, we give, in justice to him,i 
his views of its consequences. At a dinner in 
Lexington, Mr. Clay replied to a complimentary 
sentiment in a speech, from which the following 
is an extract : — 

"I feel myself called upon, by the sentiment 
just expressed, to return my thanks in behalf of i 
my colleagues and myself I do not, and I am 
quite sure they do not feel, that in the service 
alluded to they are at all entitled to the compli-i 
ment which has been paid to them. We could 
not do otherv/ise than reject the demand made by 
the other party; and if our labors finally termi-l 
nated in an honorable peace, it was owing toi 
causes on this side of the Atlantic, and not toj 
any exertion of ours. Whatever diversity of 
opinion may have existed as to the declaration of 
the war, there are some points on which ,all may 
look back with proud satisfaction. The first 
relates to the time of the conclusion of the peace. 
Had it been made immediately after the treaty 
of Paris, we should have retired humiliated from 



HENRY CLAY. 121 

the contest, believing that we had escaped from 
the severe chastisement with which we were 
threatened, and that we owed to the generosity 
and magnanimity of the enemy, what we were 
incapable of commanding by our arms. That 
magnanimity would have been the theme of every 
tongue, and of every press, abroad and at home. 

! We should have retired, unconscious of our own 
strength, and unconscious of 'the utter inability 
of the enemy, with his whole undivided force, to 

: make any serious impression upon us. Our 
military character, then in the lowest state of 
degradation, would have been unretrieved. For- 
tunately for us. Great Britain chose to try the 
issue of the last campaign. And that has 
demonstrated, in the repulse before Baltimore; 
the retreat from Plattsburgh; the hard-fought 
action on the Niagara frontier ; and in that most 
glorious day, the eighth of January, that we have 
always possessed the finest elements of military 
composition ; and that a proper use of them 
only, was necessary to insure for the army and 
militia a fame as imperishable as that which the 
navy had previously acquired. 

" Another point, which appears to me to afford 
the highest consolation, is that we fought the 

11 



122 LIFE OF 

most powerful nation, perhaps, in existence, 
single-handed and alone, without any sort of ' 
alliance. More than thirty years had Great | 
Britain been maturing her physical means, which 
she had rendered as efficacious as possible, by 
skill, by discipline, and by actual service. Proudly 
boasting of the conquest of Europe, she vainly 
flattered herself ^yiih the easy conquest of Ame- 
rica also. Her veterans were put to flight or 
defeated, while all Europe — I mean the govern- 
ments of Europe — was gazing with cold indifier- 
ence, or sentiments of positive hatred of us, 
upon the arduous contest. Hereafter no monarch 
can assert claims of gratitude upon us, for assist- 
ance rendered in the hour of danger. 

" There is another view of which the subject 
of the war is fairly susceptible. From the 
moment that Great Britain came forward at 
Ghent with her extravagant demands, the war 
totally changed in character. It became, as it 
were, a new war. It was no longer an American 
war, prosecuted for redress of British aggressions 
upon American rights, but became a British war, 
prosecuted for objects of British ambition, to be 
accompanied by American sacrifices. And what 
were those demands? They consisted of the 



HENRY CL 4.r. 12 



o 



erection of a barrier between Canada and the 
United States, to be formed by cutting off from 
Ohio, and some of the Territories, a country more 
extensive than Great Britain ; containing thou- 
sands of freemen, who were to be abandoned to 
their fate, and creating a new power totally un- 
known upon the continent of America; of the 
disarming of our fortresses and naval power on 
the lakes, with the surrender of the military 
occupation of those waters to the enemy; and of 
an arrondissement for two British provinces. 
These demands, boldly asserted, and one of them 
declared to be a sine qua non, were finally relin- 
quished. Taking this view of the subject, if 
there be loss of reputation by either party in the 
terms of peace, who has sustained it ? 

" The effects of the war are highly satisfactory. 
Abroad, our character, which at the time of its 
declaration was in the lowest state of degradation, 
is raised to the highest point of elevation. It is 
impossible for any American to visit Europe 
without being sensible of this agreeable change, 
in the personal attentions which he receives, in 
the praises which are bestowed upon our past 
exertions, and the predictions which are made as 
to our future prospects. At home, a government 



124 LIFE OF 

which, at its formation, was apprehended by its 
best friends, and predicted by its enemies, to be 
incapable of standing the shock, is found to an- 
swer all the purposes of its institution. In spite 
of the errors which have been committed, (and 
errors undoubtedly have been committed,) aided 
by the spirit and patriotism of the people, it is 
demonstrated to be as competent to the objects 
of effective war, as it has been before proved to 
be to the concerns of a season of peace. Govern- 
ment has thus acquired strength and confidence. 
Our prospects for the future are of the brightest 
kind. With every reason to count on the perma- 
nence of peace, it remains only for the govern- 
ment to determine upon military and naval 
estabhshments adapted to the growth and exten- 
sion of our country, and its rising importance, 
keeping in view a gradual, but not burdensome, 
increase of the navy ; to provide for the payment 
of the interest, and the redemption of the public 
debt, and for the current expenses of the govern- 
ment. For all these objects, the existing sources 
of the revenue promise not only to be abundantly 
sufficient, but will probably leave ample scope to 
the exercise of the judgment of Congress, in 
selecting for repeal, modification, or abolition, 



HENRY CLAY. 125 

those which may be found most oppressive, 
inconvenient, or unproductive." 

Kespecting the phrase sine qua non, an amusing 
anecdote was related by Mr. Clay; for he had a 
pleasant custom of enlivening a dry subject by an 
amusing story. " While the Commissioners were 
still abroad," said Mr. Clay, ^' there appeared a 
report of the negotiations, or letters relative 
thereto. Several quotations from my remarks, or 
letters touching certain stipulations in the treaty, 
reached Kentucky, and were read by my consti- 
tuents. Among them was an eccentric fellow 
who went by the nickname of ^Old Sandusky,' 
and he was reading one of these letters, one 
evening, to a small collection of his neighbors. 
As he read on, he came to the sentence, ^This 
must be deemed a sine qua non! 

" ^What's a sine qua non V asked half a dozen 
voices. 

" Old Sandusky was a little perplexed, but his 
native shrewdness was as good as Latin. 'Sine 
qua nonV said the old fellow, slowly repeating 
the question ; ' why sine qua non is three islands 
in Passamaquoddy Bay, and Harry Clay is the 
last man to give them up ! No sine qua non^ he 
says, no treaty, and he '11 stick to it ! ' " 

11* 



LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XII. 

MR. clay's eloquence — FRANKFORT AND THE HAT — 
MADAME DE STAEL AND WELLINGTON — BONAPARTE — 
MR. clay's advice TO YOUNG MEN. 



I 



I 



Mr. Clay was now (1815) in the zenith of his 
popularity, and the pride of his manhood. The 
epithet " furious orator," which the British press 
applied to him, referred only to his energetic and 
zealous efforts against what he deemed abuses, 
or in denunciation of what he considered unpa- 
triotic or dangerous measures — declamations I 
against foes abroad, or errors at home. He could 
be pathetic, or he could be playful. The follow- i 
ing description of his manner, gesture, and ap- 
pearance, is from an anonymous writer, but 
strikes us forcibly with its graphic distinctness. 
" Every muscle of the orator's face was at work. 
His whole body seemed agitated, as if each part 
was instinct with a separate life ; and his small 
white hand, with its blue veins apparently dis- 



HENRY CLAY. 127 

tended almost to bursting, moved gracefully, but 
with all the energy of rapid and vehement ges- 
ture. The appearance of the speaker seemed 
that of a pure intellect, wrought to its mightiest 
energies, and brightly shining through the thin 
and transparent veil of flesh that invested it." 

The possession of a talent for repartee and 
sarcasm, and the ability to say amusing things at 
the expense of others, however effective in carry- 
ing a point, are not always safe for the speaker. 
During the rejoicings which followed the procla- 
mation of peace, Mr. Clay had an opportunity to 
recall a humorous affront which he had once 
given to the lieges of Frankfort. At a public 
dinner, he paid the capital some very handsome 
compliments, alluding to a diverting passage in 
his legislative experience many years before. 
The project of removing the seat of government 
was before the House ; Mr. Clay argued in favor 

• of the removal. Frankfort is walled in on all 
sides by precipitous hills — romantic and pictu- 
resque — with the beautiful Kentucky Eiver 
cutting its way through these natural barriers. 

j Nevertheless, Frankfort does seem, if we choose 
to employ a grotesque comparison, like a great 
pit. 



128 ' LIFE OF 

^The place presents," said Mr. Clay, "the 
model of an inverted hat. Frankfort is the body '' 
of the hat, and the lands adjacent are the brim. 
To change the figure, it is nature's great peniten- 
tiary. Who that gets in, can get out ? And if 
you would know the bodily condition of the 
prisoners, look at those persons in the gallery ! " 
As Mr. Clay said this, he gave a sweep with his 
hand, which directed the attention of the legisla- 
ture to some half dozen persons who happened to 
be lounging there, and who, finding the attention 
of the House was directed to them, disappeared 
with the utmost precipitation behind post, pillar, 
railing, or whatever could offer a friendly covert. 
The House burst into a laugh at the ludicrousness 
of the incident, and voted to abdicate the peni- 
tentiary. But the measure did not finally pass, 
for Frankfort is still the capital of Kentucky. 

Since we are repeating anecdotes, we may 
relate one or two more which are connected with 
Mr. Clay's mission to Europe. While in Paris, 
after the signing of the treaty of Ghent, Madame 
de Stael pleasantly told him that the Americans 
were her debtors, inasmuch as she had been 
doing battle for them in London, during the war. 
This was magnanimous in the lady; for she thus 



HENRY CLAY. 129 

furnished one example, at least, of a defender or 
Eipologist of the war, with no Bonapartean preju- 
dices ; for Madame de Stael, until the downfall 
of Napoleon, was an exile from France. Napo- 
leon exceedingly disliked her. Mr. Clay replied, 
that "the Americans had heard of her good 
offices, and were not ungrateful for them." This 
was not necessarily a mere compliment; for no 
woman in modern times has possessed more in- 
fluence, by her pen and her conversation, than 
Madame de Stael. 

During the same conversation, Madame de 
Stael remarked to Mr. Clay, that the British 
Government had proposed, during the war, to 
send out the Duke of Wellington to command 
the British forces in America. "I am very 
sorry," replied Mr. Clay, "that they did not send 
his Grace." 

" And why, sir ? " inquired the lady. 
: "Because, madam, if he had beaten us, we 
should only have been in the condition of all 
Europe, without disgrace ; but if we had been so 
fortunate as to beat the Duke, it would have 
added greatly to the renown of our arms." 

A few days afterward, when the Duke and Mr. 
Clay met at her house, Madame de Stael, with 
9 



130 LIFE OF 

playful malice, repeated the conversation. The 
Duke answered, "Had I been sent on such an 
errand, and been so successful as to conquer the 
Americans, it would have been regarded as one 
of my proudest triumphs." It is one of the 
absurdities of war that men can thus make 
badinage of it — that, enemies to-day, to-morrow 
they can be on terms of complimentary inter- 
course ; or, in other words, that those who have 
really no feeling but complaisance and courtesy, 
can be placed, by a proclamation, in a position to 
aim at each other's destruction ! 

So wonderful, too, are the reverses of war ! In 
a preceding chapter, we have speculated on the 
chance which once existed, that Napoleon might 
be the founder of a military colony in North 
America — perhaps a military despot on this 
continent. This was averted by the demonstra- 
tions of Great Britain against him, and the sale 
of Louisiana to the United States. It was 
thought that the mighty conqueror, shorn of his 
power at Waterloo, might come to this country 
as a fugitive. It was suggested at the table of 
Lord Liverpool, in London, where Mr. Clay was 
one day a guest, that he might perhaps jflee to 
the New World as an asylum. 



HENRY CLAY. 131 

" Will he not give you some trouble; if he goes 
there?" asked Lord Liverpool. 

"Not the least, my lord," replied Mr. Clay; 
" we shall be very glad to see him, will entertain 
him with all due rites of hospitality, and soon 
make him a good democrat." But Mr. Clay 
lived to see that foreign discomfited captains 
make very poor democrats. They are more apt 
to continue adventurers, and cannot settle down 
into the dull quiet of freedom without war. 

Mr. Clay, on his return to America, found 
himself already re-elected to the House of Repre- 
sentatives. But as there were some doubts of 
the legality of an election while he was absent, a 
new canvass was ordered; and thus, twice elected, 
he was ready to resume his place. As before, he 
was chosen Speaker by a large vote; for it seemed 
that none but he could answer the exigencies of 
the post, in the minds of his contemporaries. 
The secret of influence so paramount over the 
minds of others, we may gather from his own 
declaration. No doubt natural fitness is all 
' essential; but not even Henry Clay could become 
an apt debater without industry. In an address 
delivered by Mr. Clay to the students of a law 



132 LIFE OF 

school at Ballston, New York, a few years since; 
he said : 

" I owe my success in life to one single fact, 
viz. : that at the age of twenty-seven I com- 
menced, and continued for years, the process of 
daily reading and speaking upon the contents of 
some historical or scientific book. These off-hand 
efforts were made sometimes in a corn-field, at 
others in the forest, and not unfrequently in some 
distant barn, with the horse and the ox for my 
auditors. It is to this early practice of the great ij 
art of all arts, that I am indebted for the primary j 
and leading impulses that stimulated me forward, 
and have shaped and moulded my entire subse- 
quent destiny. Improve then, young gentlemen, i 
the superior advantages you here enjoy. Let not 
a day pass without exercising your powers of 
speech. There is no power like that of oratory. 
Caesar controlled men by exciting their fears; 
Cicero by captivating their ajQfections and swaying 
their passions. The influence of the one perished 
with its author; that of the other continues to 
this day." 



HENRY CLAY. 133 



CHAPTER XIII. 

DEBTS AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR OF 1812 — THE TARIFF 
OF 1816 — MR. CLAY ON THE SPANISH REPUBLICS. 

One of the most reprehensible acts committed 
during the war of 1812, was the destruction of 
the public buildings and several private resi- 
dences, in AVashington, by a British force under 
General Ross. We have not space to go into 
particulars, and need only say that the defence 
of the capital — or rather neglect of defence — was 
as little creditable to American arms on the one 
side, as the destruction of the public buildings 
was to British magnanimity on the other. 

The only public building spared was that which 
was used for the Patent Office and Post Office, 
which were under the same roof. A portion of 
this building was fitted up for the purposes of 
Congress, and during the one session that the 
national legislature met there, the project of 
changing the seat of government was introduced, 
but not carried. In the following year, 1815, 

12 



134 LIFE OF 

some of the citizens of "Washington, moved, per- « 
haps, by apprehension lest the question of change 
should again be called up, erected a temporary 
building, of which the government took a lease. 
It is mentioned in contemporary prints, that the 
lot on which this temporary capitol stood was, on 
the fourth of July previous to the meeting of 
Congress, a garden. The bricks of which it was 
built were in the clay, and the timber still stand- 
ing in the forests at that date. 

One of the leading measures of this session 
was the charter of a new United States Bank. 
This subject we have anticipated in a previous 
chapter. The first thought of the national coun- 
cils was to provide for the public debt, now 
amounting to over a hundred millions in stocks, 
beside some twenty more of treasury notes, and 
a great amount of unadjusted claims. The sub- 
ject of taxation of course was a prominent one, 
and engaged much attention. The President, in 
his Message, had recommended discriminating 
duties in favor of American industry. "In 
adjusting the duties on imports to the objects of 
revenue, the influence of the tariff on manufac- 
tures will necessarily present itself for considera- 
tion. * '^ * In selecting the branches more 



HENRY CLAY. 135 

especially entitled to the public patronage, a 
preference is obviously claimed by such as will 
relieve the United States from dependence on 
foreign supplies — ever subject to casual failures 
— for articles necessary for the public defence, or 
connected with the primary wants of individuals. 
It will be an additional recommendation of par- 
ticular manufactures, when the materials for 
them are extensively drawn from our agriculture, 
and consequently impart and insure to that great 
fund of national prosperity and independence, 
an encouragement which cannot fail to be re- 
warded." 

As an illustration of party changes, we may 
remark that the Federalists, as a party, now 
opposed the protective system, while the great 
body of the Democrats defended it; John Kan- 
dolph, and a few of his friends, being the excep- 
tions. Calhoun and Clay labored side by side for 
the tariff — Calhoun, who, in his later life, opposed 
nullification to protection. But the Federalists 
were chiefly representatives of commercial inte- 
rests, and the Southern men represented cotton- 
growing states. American cotton, at that time, 
was repulsed in England by a duty; and the 
imported cotton goods which then came to Ame- 



136 LIFE OF 

rica were chiefly of India cotton. American 
manufactures received an impetus during the 
war, which, taken in connection with the British 
duty discriminating in favor of India cotton, led 
the Southern men to suppose that their future 
market must be in America. 

A tariiF was enacted, but Mr. Clay was in 
favor of a much higher rate of duty than it im- 
posed ; arguing that, " the period of the termina- 
tion of the war, during which the manufacturing 
industry of the country had received a powerful 
spring, was precisely that period when govern- 
ment was alike impelled, by duty and interest, to 
protect it against the admission of foreign fabrics, 
consequent upon a state of peace." Mr. Clay 
also argued the importance of preparation in 
peace for war ; and laid down the principle that 
in time of peace we should look to foreign impor- 
tations as the chief source of revenue, and in 
time of war to internal taxes. He referred to 
the still unsettled state of our relations with 
Spain, growing out of the Florida difficulty, 
which remained unadjusted, though the land in 
dispute was in part incorporated with Louisiana. 
He alluded to the congress of potentates then in 
session in Vienna. Their ideas of ^legitimate 



HENRY CLAY. 137 

government' were carried to an extent destructive 
of every principle of liberty. We have seen these 
doctrines applied to create and overthrow dynas- 
ties at will. Do we know, he asked, whether we 
shall escape their influence ? 

The subject of the recognition of the Spanish- 
American republics was agitated in various forms, 
in Congress, from the period of which we write 
(1816) to the year 1822; when, upon the special 
recommendation of President Monroe, their inde- 
pendence was formally recognized by Congress. 
The matter had been embarrassed by the boun- 
dary dispute with Spain, as detailed in Chapter 
yi. of this volume; and the difference was not 
closed until, in 1821, the treaty with Spain in 
reference to Florida was ratified. By this treaty, 
all the Spanish claims east of the Mississippi 
were annulled, in consideration of the release of 
American claims against Spain. The boundary 
west of the Mississippi gave Texa's, which had 
also been in dispute, to Spain. 

The Tariff Bill, which passed at this session 
after a necessarily long debate, was based upon, 
the principles propounded by the President. It 
classified the articles of import under three heads : 
Those of which a full domestic supply could be 

12* 



138 LIFE OF 

produced ; those of which a partial supply can be 
manufactured ; and those not produced at home 
at all, or in insufficient quantities. The last class 
of goods was taxed with a view to revenue solely. 
On the others, the rates were from twenty to 
twenty-five per cent, generally; but some specific 
duties were much higher. We shall have occa- 
sion, in a future chapter, to refer to the Tariff 
and the American system again; and for the 
present will confine ourselves to Mr. Clay's efforts 
in behalf of the sister republics on this continent. 
For to put the nation in an attitude to defend its 
position in regard to the American republics was, 
as we have already observed, one great reason 
with Mr. Clay for desiring a sufficient revenue. 

Mr. Randolph was exceedingly severe upon the 
republics then struggling into existence, and as 
his remarks were made in a style characteristic 
of the man, we make a brief extract. There is 
a mixture of sound discernment and of extrava- 
gance in what he said — a strain of what would 
have been prophecy, if uttered in language a 
little less exaggerated. Our South American 
neighbors have not done so much credit to the 
name of republicans as we could have wished; 
and indeed, at this distance of time — nearly forty 






HENRY CLAY. " 139 

years — have hardly settled under their new insti- 
tutions. Still, that they will become republics 
indeed, there remains now no room to doubt; and 
Mr. Clay's hopes for them will be reahsed. 

" This struggle for liberty," Mr. Kandolph said, 
"would turn out in the end something like the 
French liberty — a detestable despotism. You 
cannot make liberty out of Spanish matter — ^you 
might as well try to build a seventy-four out of 
pine saplings ! What ideas had the Spaniards of 
rational liberty — of the trial by jury — of the 
right of habeas corpus — of the slow process by 
which this House moves and acts? None, sir, 
none ! Expediency, necessity, the previous ques- 
tion, the inquisition — these were among the 
engines belonging to their ideas of government. 
The honorable Speaker [Mr. Clay] had told the 
House, on a recent occasion, that he saw instances 
of this or that in the British House of Commons; 
the honorable gentleman had been sent on a 
recent occasion to Europe — he had been near the 
field of Waterloo. He was afraid the honorable 
gentleman had caught the infection — that he had 
! snuffed the carnage — and when a man once 
catches that infection, like that of ambition or 
avarice — whether taken by inoculation or in the 



H 



140 ' LIFE OF 

natural way, the consequences are permanent.! 
What, increase our standing army in a time of 
peace, on the suggestion that we are to go on a 
crusade in South America ! Do I not understand 
the gentleman? [Mr. Clay here intimated a 
negative to this question.] I am sorry I did not," 
continued Mr. Randolph ; '^ I labor under two 
great misfortunes : one is, that I can never 
understand the honorable Speaker; the other, 
that he can never understand me 1 " 

In answer to charges like the foregoing against 
the Spanish patriots. Clay said : " It had been 
charged that the people of South America were 
incapable, from the ignorance and superstition 
which prevail among them, of achieving inde- 
pendence, or enjoying liberty. And to what 
cause was that ignorance and superstition owing? 
Was it not to the vices of their government ? to 
the tyranny and oppression, hierarchal and poli- 
tical, under which they groaned? If Spain 
succeeded in riveting their chains upon them, 
would not that ignorance and superstition be 
perpetuated ? For my part," said Mr. Clay, '^ I 
wish them independence. It is the first step 
toward improving their condition. Let them 
have free government if they are capable of 



I 



HENRY CLAY. 141 

i 

enjoying it; but let them, at all events, have 
independence. I may be accused of an imprudent 
utterance of my feelings. I care not ; for when 
the independence, the happiness, the liberty of a 
whole people is at stake, and that people our 
neighbors, our brethren, occupying a portion of 
the same continent, imitating our example, and 
participating in the same sympathies as ourselves, 
I will boldly avow my feelings and my wishes in 
their behalf, even at the risk of such an imputa- 
tion." 

Mr. Clay's speeches upon this subject are many 
in number, and we extract from them without 
regard to the order of time, such passages as did 
not depend for their interest upon contemporary 
circumstances, but are everywhere interesting, 
and at all times. The parallel in the following 
between the circumstances of the South Ameri- 
can republics, and our own in its infancy, is well 
drawn : — 

" Let us recollect the condition of the patriots : 
no minister here to spur on our government ; no 
minister here to be rewarded by noble honors in 
consequence of the influence he is supposed to 
possess in our republic. No: their unfortunate 
case was what ours had been in 1778 and 1779 ; 



142 - LIFE OF 

their ministersj like our Franklins and Jays at 
that day, were skulking about Europe, imploring 
inexorable legitimacy for one kind look — some 
aid to terminate a war afflicting to humanity. 
Nay, their situation was worse than ours, for we 
had one great and magnanimous ally to recognise 
us; but no nation had stepped forward to 
acknowledge any of these provinces. Such dis- 
parity between the parties demanded a just 
attention to the interests of the party which was 
unrepresented. ^ ^ "^ "VVe must pass con- 
demnation upon the founders of our own liberty, 
and say that they were rebels, traitors, and that 
we are at this moment legislating without compe- 
tent powers, before we can condemn South Ame- 
rica. Our revolution was mainly directed against 
the mere theory of tyranny. We had suffered 
comparatively but little — we had in some respects 
been kindly treated; but our intrepid and intelli- 
gent fathers saw, in the usurpation of a power to 
levy an inconsiderable tax, the long train of 
oppressive acts which were to follow. They rose 
— they breasted the storm ; they achieved our 
freedom. Spanish America for centuries has 
been doomed to the practical effects of an odious 



HENRY CLAY. 143 

tja'anny. If we were justified, she is more than 
justified. 

" I am no propagandist. I would not seek to 
force upon other nations our principles and our 
liberty, if they do not want them. I would not 
disturb the repose even of a detestable despotism. 
But if an abused and oppressed people will their 
freedom ; if they seek to establish it ; if in truth 
they have established it ; we have a right, as a 
sovereign power, to notice the fact, and to act as 
circumstances and our interest require. I will 
say, in the language of the venerated Father of 
iny country, 'born in a land of liberty, my 
anxious recollections, my sympathetic feelings, 
and my best wishes are irresistibly excited, when- 
soever, in any country, I see an oppressed nation 
unfurl the banners of freedom.' Whenever I 
think of Spanish America, the image irresistibly 
forces itself upon my mind, of an elder brother 
whose education has been neglected, whose person 
has been abused and maltreated, and who has 
been disinherited by the unkindness of an unna- 
tural parent. And when I conteniplate the glori- 
ous struggle which that nation is now making, I 
think I behold that brother rising, by the power 
and energy of his fine native genius, to the manly 



144 LIFE OF 

rank which nature, and nature's God, intended 
for him. 

" It is the doctrine of thrones that man is too 
ignorant to govern himself. Their partisans 
assert his incapacity in reference to ail nations; 
if they cannot demand universal assent to the 
proposition, it is then demanded as to particular 
nations ; and our pride and our presumption too 
often make converts of us. I contend that it is 
to arraign the dispositions of Providence himself, 
to suppose that he has created beings incapable 
of governing themselves, and to be trampled on 
by kings ! 

^^But the House has been asked, and asked 
with a triumph worthy of a better cause, why 
recognise this republic? Where is the use of it? 
And is it possible that gentlemen can see no use 
in recognising this republic ? For what did this 
republic [La Plata] fight ? To be admitted into 
the family of nations. ' Tell the nations of the 
world,' says one of her statesmen, in his speech, 
' that we already belong to their illustrious rank.' 
What would be the powerful consequences of a 
recognition of their claim ? I ask my honorable 
friend before me [General Bloomfield] the highest 
sanction of whose judgment in favor of my pro- 




BOLIVAR READING CLAY S LETTER TO THE ARMY. 



HENRY CLAY. 145 

position I fondly anticipate, with what anxious 
solicitude^ during our revolution, he and his glo- 

^ rious compatriots turned their eyes to Europe, 
and asked to be recognised? I ask him, the 
patriot of '76, how the heart rebounded with joy, 

- on the information that France had recognised 
us ? The moral influence of such a recognition 
on the patriot of South America, will be irresisti- 
ble. He will derive assurance from it, of his not 
having fought in vain. In the constitution of our 

5 inatures there is a point to which adversity may 
I pursue us, without, perhaps, any worse effect 

i ithan that of exciting new energy to meet it. 
Having reached that point, if no gleam of comfort 

^[breaks through the gloom, we sink beneath the 

si pressure, yielding reluctantly to our fate, and in 
hopeless despair lose all stimulus to exertion. 
And is there not reason to fear such a fate for the 
patriots of La Plata?" 

Such are a few specimens of the earnestness 
with which, year after year, Mr. Clay pleaded for 
the South American republics. His speeches 
were well known among those in whose cause 
they were uttered. The Spanish are an enthusi- 
astic people, and admire chivalric and noble 
bearing ; and the efforts of Henry Clay in their 

13 



146 



LIFE OF 



behalf were translated, and read at the head oi 
the armies who were fighting the battles of free 
dom. The writer of this book had the pleasui 
to receive in South America, while the indepen( 
ence of the new republics was as yet hardli 
established, the warmest evidences of the frienc 
ship of these new republicans for their NortI 
American brethren. This feeling of gratitude 
was mainly owing to the speeches of Henry Claj 
which were accepted among the people as ihl 
sentiments of his countrymen. So far can on] 
voice reach, when it is raised in defence of th^ 
right ! 

In 1827, General Bolivar sent a letter to Henri 
Clay, expressing in behalf of the South America! 
people, whom he represented, the strongest feel 
ings of gratitude. Mr. Clay, in answer, expressed 
his gratification that the course pursued by tl 
government of the United States, had called forti 
such grateful sentiments. He added, moreovei 
with becoming frankness, a hope that certaii 
imputations of ambitious designs to Generaj 
Bolivar, would prove unfounded. Events aftei 
ward exonerated the South American Patriot. 



f! 

HENRY CLAY. 147 



CHAPTER XIV. 

;L0SE of the fourteenth congress — ITS LEADING 
MEASURES — THE COMPENSATION ACT — PUBLIC DISSA- 
TISFACTION — OPENING OF THE FIFTEENTH CONGRESS — 

I INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 

At the close of the second session of the four- 
teenth Congress, Mr. Clay was complimented 
,vith an unanimous vote of thanks, "for the 
ibility and impartiality with which he had pre- 
sided over its deliberations, and the correctness 
,vith which he had performed the arduous duties 
)f the chair." Such a resolution as this is a 
natter of course under ordinary circumstances; 
out the heartiness with which it was bestowed on 
:his occasion, gave it more than a mere compli- 
nentary character. The nature of the measures 
kvhich the House had been called upon to discuss, 
idded to the difficulties of the Speaker's position. 
En making his acknowledgments, Mr. Clay re- 

Qiarked that there were in legislation three periods 



148 . LIFE OF 

of extraordinary difficulty, and requiring grea 
fortitude. The first was that which immediatel}! 
precedes a war, and in which preparation is madd 
for that event; the second, that which accomi 
panics, and the third, that which follows, wari 
During the two first, however, there were ani 
mating circumstances, always existing, whicl 
invigorated the legislative function. During the 
last, the stimulus is gone ; and being succeedec 
by relaxation, the legislator needs more fortitude' 
He has to survey the whole fabric of the State 
to accommodate it to the new circumstances if 
which it is placed; to provide a revenue fo. 
redeeming the debt of the war ; to retrench, am* 
by the reduction of establishments, to dismiss 
from the service of the country many who hav( 
nobly contributed to sustain its glory. In th(' 
latter of the three periods, Mr. Clay remarked 
the members of the House whose term was just 
closing had been placed, and he reciprocated the 
compliment which the members had paid to him, 
by testifying to the patience, diligence, and zeal, 
which they had manifested in the public service. 
Many public acts of much importance were' 
passed. The system of coast defence received its 
first important aid at this session ; the principki 



HENRY CLAY. 149 

if protection of American industry was recog- 
lised; a bill appropriating certain moneys to 
internal improvements passed Congress, but was 
vetoed by President Madison ; the United States 
Bank was chartered ; but no public measure pro- 
duced so much clamor as what was termed the 
■^ Compensation Act." 

Previous to this time, the pay of members of 
Congress had been six dollars a day. A bill was 
passed, giving to each member fifteen hundred 
dollars per annum, without regard to the length 
of the sessions. This law produced a great ex- 
citement, and was condemned, not only by popu- 
|lar meetings and the newspapers, but by formal 
resolution in many of the State Legislatures. In 
consequence of this it was repealed — the repeal 
to take effect with the next Congress. The 
members of the Congress which had passed the 
law, in repealing it, made this compromise with 
their dignity, that they permitted it to stand so 
ifar as they were concerned. The next Congress, 
Iwe may here observe, passed the act affixing the 
present rate — eight dollars per day and mileage ; 
and experience has demonstrated that the fifteen 
hundred dollars per annum would have been a 
much less tax on the public treasury. 

13* 



150 LIFE OF 

As the election for the new Congress took place 
before the act could be repealed, many members 
lost their seats. Some declined to be candidates 
for a re-election. Those who were re-elected 
came in by a very close vote. Even Mr. Clay 
was taught how much the popularity of a poh- 
tician depends upon a breath. While his election 
was pending, and the popular clamor was at its 
height, he met an old Kentucky friend who 
showed ominous discontent on account of the 
charge of compensation which the members of 
Congress had voted to themselves. 

" Have you a good rifle ?" asked Mr. Clay, 

" Yes." 

" Did it never flash ? " 

" It did once." 

" And did you then throw it away ? " 

"No; I picked the flint, and tried it again, 
and it was true." 

" And will you throw me away ? " 

" No, no," said the hunter, grasping his hand, 
" I will pick the flint, and try it again ! " 

Mr. Clay was again elected Speaker of the 
House, in 1817, by a vote of one hundred and 
forty to seven. The measure with which he 
was most closely identified, during this ses- 



HENRY CLAY. 151 

sion of Congress, was the passage of a resolution 
I by the House, declaring that Congress has power, 
under the Constitution, to make appropriations 
for the construction of military roads, post roads, 
and canals. It passed the House by a vote of 
ninety to seventy-five. It is proper to say, how- 
ever, that the question still remains open; and 
, though large ajDpropriations have been made from 
year to year for the improvement of river navi- 
gation, and the security of harbors, yet the 
construction of roads or canals, by the Federal 
Government, has never been reduced to a govern- 
mental system, as was contemplated by the origi- 
nators of the policy. 

Mr. Madison, as we have already said, vetoed 
a bill having internal improvements for its object. 
Mr. Monroe declared his opinion against the con- 
stitutional power of Congress, in his first message; 
and it was to meet the arguments of the message 
that the resolution above mentioned was intro- 
duced. It was at one time very common to 
suggest revisions and amendments of the Consti- 
tution, to meet particular exigencies. Thus Mr. 
Jefferson contemplated an amendment of the 
Constitution, to legalise the purchase of Louisiana. 
Madison and Monroe, while they opposed internal 



152 LIFE OF 

improvements by the Federal Government as 
unconstitutional, favored the policy, and wished 
the Constitution amended in order to permit it. 
But altering the fundamental law of a state or a 
confederacy is a doubtful experiment, and never 
to be resorted to except from imperious necessity. 
It is better to endure some evils and incon- 
veniences, than to open the door to innovations 
which may amount to revolution, and which 
must impair the feeling of confidence and sta- 
bility. The reasoning which Mr. Clay used 
against the probability of amending the Consti- 
tution in reference to internal improvements, will 
apply to such a proposal if entertained with any 
other view. " With regard," he said, " to the 
possibility of obtaining such an amendment, I 
think it altogether out of the question. " Two 
different descriptions of persons, entertaining 
sentiments directly opposed, will unite and defeat 
such an amendment : one embracing those who 
believe that the Constitution, fairly interpreted, 
conveys the power; and the other, those who 
think that Congress has not, and ought not to 
have it." 

Mr. Clay argued : " Of all the modes in which 
a government can employ its surplus revenue, 



HENRY CLAY. 153 

none is more permanently beneficial than that of 
internal improvement. Fixed to the soil, it 
becomes a durable part of the land itself, diffusing 
comfort, and activity, and animation, on all sides. 
The first direct effect is on the agricultural com- 
munity, into whose pockets comes the difference 
in the expense of transportation between good 
and bad ways. Thus, if the price of transporting 
a barrel of flour, by the erection of the Cumber- 
land Turnpike, should be lessened two dollars, 
the producer of the article would receive that two 
dollars more now than formerly. But putting 
aside all pecuniary considerations, there may be 
political motives sufficiently j)owerful alone to 
justify certain improvements." 

The "Cumberland Eoad" extends from Cum- 
berland, Maryland, over the Alleghanies to 
Wheeling, Virginia. It was built by successive 
appropriations, commencing in 1806, and amount- 
ing in all to about two millions of dollars, exclu- 
sive of sums appropriated for surveys 600 miles 
further. This expense has been charged directly 
or indirectly upon the public lands. Superior 
modes of facilitating the transit of merchandise 
and passengers, have superseded turnpikes as 
objects of public patronage ; and convenience, or 



154 LIFE OF 

policy, has transferred the erection or fostering 
of these works from the National to the State 
governments. Individual enterprise has proved 
more efficient than either; and the great branches 
of iron .roads and water communication, which 
are spreading their arms in all directions, more 
than realise the predictions of Mr. Clay as to the 
advantage and benefits of internal improvements. 
The distant members of the confederacy are 
united ; communication is between the principal 
points literally instantaneous, for the telegraph 
has been introduced to perfect the work which 
the Cumberland Koad began, and may finally 
stretch across America from ocean to ocean. 

Though we have said that the question as to 
the power of Congress to make appropriations for 
internal improvements still remains open, it is 
adjusted to a great extent by the disposition to 
compromise, which indeed determines, sooner or 
later, all our great national questions. Indivi- 
duals originate, State legislatures aid or assume, 
and Congress by grants of land, or the proceeds 
of land sales, assists in uniting our country by 
the most magnificent public works ever erected. 
For rivers and harbors, and other public objects 
not of a nature to support themselves by the 



HENRY CLAY. 155 

production of a revenue, Congress makes annual 
appropriations. 

To Mr. Clay the country owes much of this 
prosperity. He saw the importance of easy and 
rapid inter-communication ; and he advocated 
the government aid which gave the system its 
early impetus. Neither he, nor his compatriots, 
the opponents of the policy which he advocated, 
could foresee that the private energy of the peo- 
ple, aided by the discoveries of the age, would 
accomplish such wonders in art and enterprise as 
have now become common-place events. They 
could not predict that turnpikes, canals, and post 
roads, would be rendered obsolete by the raih^oad 
and the telegraph. But Mr. Clay's speeches in 
favor of internal improvement, if they did not 
effect all that he desired in the national councils, 
reached the ears of the people, and influenced 
the State legislatures. As the man in his 
strength does not forget the kindness which sup- 
ported his childhood, so may Mr. Clay's country- 
men — who are now driven by steam over the 
difficulties which once still farther impeded the 
ancient slow modes of conveyance — thank him 
who defended in its infancy the policy and enter- 
prise which can now defend and sustain them- 
selves. 



156 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE SEMINOLE CAMPAIGN OF 1817 — ARBUTHNOT AND 
AMBRISTER — PENSACOLA AND ST. MARKS — DIFFICUL- 
TIES IN THE CABINET — PROCEEDINGS IN CONGRESS — 
SPEECH OF MR. CLAY. 

The relations of the United States with Spain 
— embarrassed by the aid which the revolted 
colonies, now the Spanish-American republics, 
received from citizens of the United States — 
were still farther complicated by the proceedings 
of General Jackson, in the Seminole campaign of 
1817. Sheltered within the Spanish territory of 
Florida, the Seminole Indians committed great 
depredations upon the frontier settlements of 
Georgia. A few skirmishes took place between 
the Indians and the American garrison of Fort 
Scott, under the command of General Gaines. 
Some lives were lost, and an Indian town was 
surprised and burned. Up to this time, there 
had been no invasion of the Spanish territory. 



HENRY CLAY. 157 

The Indians retaliated by captunng a boat, 
which was on its way up the Apalachicola Kiver 
with supplies for Fort Scott. Between forty and 
fifty men, women, and children, were killed, and 
the United States Government took immediate 
steps to punish the Indians, and put a close to 
the state of Indian warfare. Major-General 
Andrew Jackson was ordered to take the com- 
mand in person, and authority was conferred to 
enter Florida, if necessary, in pursuit of the 
Indians; but the instructions did not authorise 
an attack upon any Spanish fort. 

General Jackson, with a large force, as 
promptly as the nature of the country and the 
insufficiency of supplies would permit, overran 
Florida, burned several Indian towns, and took 
possession of the Spanish post of St. Marks. The 
only resistance offered by the Spanish commander 
was a remonstrance. One of the Indian settle- 
ments, a town on the Suwanee River, received 
notice of his approach from Arbuthnot, an Indian 
trader. The women and children were sent 
away, and the warriors made a stand under the 
command of Ambrister, another Indian trader. 
The leader, Ambrister, was taken prisoner; the 

14 



158 



LIFE OF 



other Englishman, Arbuthnot, had already been '' 
found in the fort at St. Marks. 

Both these men were put on trial before a 
Court Martial, of which General Gaines was 
President ; and both were found guilty of excit-. 
ing the Indians to war, and furnishing them with 
supplies. Both were sentenced to death; and 
although, on re-consideration, the Court Martial, 
changed Ambrister's sentence to stripes and im- 
prisonment. General Jackson approved the first 
finding in the case of Ambrister, and caused the 
sentence of death to be put in execution upon 
both. Two Indian chiefs, who came on board an 
American armed vessel, which wore the British 
flag for a decoy, were also hanged by General 
Jackson's orders. Pensacola was taken possession 
of, and the aggressions of the Indians, and their 
shelter by the Spanish authorities, were thus 
summarily closed. 

These measures called forth a protest from the 
Spanish Minister at Washington. John Quincy 
Adams, the Secretary of State, defended the 
invasion of Florida, on the ground that Spain 
had not fulfilled her treaty stipulations to keep 
the Indians in check. He justified the seizure 
of the Spanish posts as a measure of self-defence ; 



HENRY CLAY. 159 

but as the war with the Indians was now ended, 
the forts taken were restored to the Spanish 
authorities. 

It is matter of record that Adams was the only 
one in the Cabinet who defended General Jack- 
son. That officer had acted on his own responsi- 
bility, and transcended the limit prescribed to 
him. But it was necessary to defend his course, 
on account of the position of the United States 
Government toward Spain, and because, as Mr. 
Madison said in a private letter to General Jack- 
son, "the President was satisfied that General 
Jackson had good reason for his conduct, and 
had acted in all things on that principle." The 
people of the United States, having since given 
General Jackson the highest proofs of their con- 
fidence, may be regarded as excusing him, under 
the circumstances, for acts the principle of which 
would have justified the British forces in Canada 
in invading our northern frontier, during the 
Canadian rebellion. Perhaps the failure of our 
government to disavow General Jackson's course, 
or to censure him, may account for the omission 
of any demand, on our part, for reparation for 
the burning of an American steamboat by a Bri- 
tish party, while she was moored in the waters 



160 LIFE OF 

of the United States. What a nation exacts, she 
must endure; and if General Jackson was de- 
fended in taking possession of Spanish forts, 
because they were thought to shield hostile 
Indians, the same plea of self-defence would be 
available in justification of the destruction of a 
steamboat in the service of an enemy; though 
that steamer had taken refuge in the waters of a 
friendly power. 

Whatever may be said of General Jackson's 
Florida proceedings at this day, when party 
feelings enter no more into the estimate, we must 
concede that the most friendly disposition can 
only palliate, and not commend them. At the 
time of their occurrence, there was a strong dis- 
position to call the General to an account. Mr. 
Adams saved him in the Cabinet; and, once 
committed, the administration was forced to 
defend him. The documents relative to the 
Seminole war, and the Spanish protest, were laid 
before the House of Kepresentatives, and referred 
to the Committee on Naval Affairs. In their 
report, the seizure and occupation of the Spanish 
posts was condemned ; and to the report a series 
of resolutions was appended. Among them was 
one expressive of censure on General Jackson for 



I 



HENRY CLAY. 161 

the execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister. 
There was a minority report which defended 
General Jackson for the occupation of the Spanish 
towns. The debate lasted three weeks; and 
resulted in a refusal to censure General Jackson, 
by a majority of between thirty and forty votes. 

Many very able speeches were made — none 
more able than the speeches of Henry Clay. The 
svhole subject was reviewed by him. In his 
)pening, he disclaimed all feelings towards Gene- 
ral Jackson but those of kindness and respect. 
He reviewed and condemned the Indian Treaty 
nade four years before, the hard terms of which, 
le alleged, produced this war. He condemned 
n eloquent language, the execution of the In- 
lians, and that of the Englishmen, without, as he 
irged, the authority of law. It is not our purpose 
low to revive the charges against General Jack- 
ion ; and we pass, therefore, the particular points 
vhich Mr. Clay made, and extract the more 
general conclusion of his speech; sound in wis- 
lom, and earnest in patriotism. 

"I will not," said Mr. Clay, ^Hrespass much 
onger upon the time of the Committee ; but I 
rust I shall be indulged in some few reflections 
ipon the danger of permitting the conduct on 

14* 



162 LIFE OF 

which it has been my painful duty to animadvert, 
to pass without a solemn expression of the dis- 
approbation of this House. Kecall to your 
recollection the free nations which have gone 
before us. Where are they now ? 

Some glimmering through the dream of things that were, 
A school-boy's tale, the wonder of an hour. 

And how have they lost their liberties ? If we 
could transport ourselves back to the ages when 
Greece and Eome flourished in their greatest 
prosperity, and, mingling in the throng, should 
ask a Grecian if he did not fear that some daring 
military chieftain, covered with glory — some 
Philip or Alexander — would one day overthrow 
the liberties of his country, the confident and 
indignant Grecian would exclaim, ^ No ! no ! we 
have nothing to fear from our heroes ; our liber, 
ties will be eternal.' If a Roman citizen had 
been asked if he did not fear that the conqueroi 
of Gaul might establish a throne upon the ruine 
of public liberty, he would instantly have repelled 
the insinuation. Yet Greece fell. Caesar passed 
the Rubicon, and even the patriotic arm of Brutus 
could not preserve the liberties of his devoted 
country! The celebrated Madame de Stael, in 
her last, and perhaps her best work, has said. 



HENRY CLAY. 163 

that in the very year, almost in the very month^ 
when the president of the Directory declared that 
monarchy would never more show its frightful 
head in France, Bonaparte, with his grenadiers, 
entered the palace of St. Cloud, and dispersing 
with the bayonet the deputies of the people, 
deliberating on the affairs of the State, laid the 
foundation of that vast fabric of despotism which 
overshadowed all Europe. I hope not to be 
misunderstood. I am far from intimating that 
General Jackson cherishes any designs inimical 
to the liberties of the country. I believe his 
intentions to be pure and patriotic. I thank 
Heaven that he would not — and I am still more 
grateful that he could not if he would — overturn 
the liberties of the republic. But precedents, if 
bad, are fraught with the most dangerous conse- 
quences. Man has been described, by some one 
of those who have treated of his nature, as a 
bundle of habits. The definition is much truer 
when applied to governments. Precedents are 
their habits. There is one important difference 
between the formation of habits by an individual 
and by governments. He contracts it only after 
frequent repetition. A single instance fixes the 
habits and determines the direction of govern- 



164 LIFE OF 

merits. Against the alarming doctrine of unli- 
mited discretion in our military commanders, 
when applied even to prisoners of war, I must 
enter my protest. It begins with them — it will 
end on us. I hope our happy form of govern- 
ment is to be perpetuated. But if it is to be 
preserved, it must be by the practice of virtue, 
by justice, by moderation, by magnanimity, by 
greatness of soul, by keeping a watchful and 
steady eye on the executive ; and, above all, by 
holding to a strict accountability the military 
branch of the public force. 

" We are fighting a great moral battle, for the 
benefit not only of our country, but of all man- 
kind. The eyes of the whole world are in fixed 
attention upon us. One, and the largest portion, 
is gazing with contempt, with jealousy, and with 
envy; the other portion with hope, with confi- 
dence, and with affection. Every where the thick 
cloud of legitimacy is suspended over the world, 
save only one bright spot, which breaks out from 
the political hemisphere of the West, to en- 
lighten, and animate, and gladden the human 
heart. Obscure that, by the downfall of liberty 
here, and all mankind are enshrouded in a pall 
of universal darkness. To you, Mr. Chairman, 



HENRY CLAY. 165 

belongs the high privilege of transmitting unim- 
paired, to posterity^ the fair character and liberty 
of our country. Do you expect to execute this 
high trust by trampling, or suffering to be tram- 
pled down, law, justice, the constitution, and the 
rights of the people ? by exhibiting examples of 
inhumanity, and cruelty, and ambition? When 
the minions of despotism heard, in Europe, of the 
seizure of Pensacola, how did they chuckle, and 
chide the admirers of our institutions, tauntingly 
pointing to the demonstration of a spirit of in- 
justice and aggrandizement made by our country 
in the midst of an amicable negotiation. Behold, 
said they, the conduct of those who are constantly 
reproaching kings ! You saw how those admirers 
were astounded, and hung their heads. You 
saw, too, when that illustrious man who presides 
over us adopted his pacific, moderate, and just 
course, how they once more lifted up their heads, 
with exultation and delight beaming in their 
countenances. And you saw how those minions 
themselves were fully compelled to unite in the 
general praises bestowed upon our government. 
Beware how you forfeit this exalted character. 
Beware how you give a fatal sanction, in this 
infant period of our republic, scarcely yet two 



166 



LIFE OF 



score years old, to military insubordination. 
Remember that Greece had her Alexander, Rome 
her Csesar, England her Cromwell, France her 
Bonaparte ; and that if we would escape the rock 
on which they split, we must avoid their errors. 

" I hope gentlemen will deliberately survey the 
awful isthmus on which we stand. They may 
bear down all opposition; they may even vote 
the General the public thanks ; they may carry 
him triumphantly through this House. But if 
they do, in my humble judgment, it will be a 
triumph of the principle of insubordination — a 
triumph of the military over the civil authority 
— a triumph over the powers of this House — a 
triumph over the constitution of the land. And 
I pray most devoutly to Heaven, that it may not 
prove, in its ultimate effects and consequences, a 
triumph over the liberties of the people." 



HENRY CLAY. 167 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE — RETIREMENT OF MR. CLAY 
— HIS MISSION TO VIRGINIA — VISIT TO HANOVER — 
SPEECH BEFORE THE VIRGINIA HOUSE OF DELEGATES. 

The next important measure in which we find 
Mr. Clay engaged, was the famous " Missouri 
Compromise." Before the admission of a new 
State into the Union, an Act of Congress is re- 
quired to authorise a convention of the people to 
form a constitution. In the session of 1818-19, 
the House passed such an act for the State of 
Missouri. But it contained a proviso forbidding 
the farther introduction of slavery into the new 
State, and providing that all slaves born in the 
State after its admission into the Union, should 
be free at the age of twenty-five. The Senate 
refused to pass the bill with these provisions, and 
the session went over with the appeal of Mis- 
souri still unanswered. 

At the next session, the matter came up again. 



II 



168 LIFE OF 

There was a long and very warm debate upon 
the subject. As the " Missouri Compromise" is a 
phrase which our young readers will often meet, 
it may be well to make it intelligible to them. 
In 1787, while the States were as yet united' 
simply by articles of confederation, an ordinance- 
was unanimously agreed to, for the government! 
of the territory north-west of the Ohio. This 
ordinance, among other provisions, declared that 
" there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary 
servitude in the said territory, otherwise than the 
punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall 
have been duly convicted." This provision had' 
been strictly adhered to, up to the date of the 
application of Missouri for admission. 

Prior to 1820, when the Missouri question was 
settled, ten States had been added to the original 
thirteen. Among these were : Vermont, sepa- 
rated from New York, and Maine from Massa- 
chusetts, States in which slavery was not men- 
tioned; Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, from the 
territory north and west of the Ohio. By the 
constitutions of the last three States, slavery was 
expressly excluded, in accordance with the terms 
of the ordinance above mentioned. To balance 
these five free States, Tennessee, from North 



II 



HENRY CLAY. 169 

Carolina, Kentucky, from Virginia; Louisiana, 
from the Louisiana purchase; and Mississippi 
and Alabama from lands ceded to the United 
States by Georgia, had been admitted into the 
Union. In these States, slavery had not been 
forbidden, as they formed portions of territory 
formerly held by slave States ; and occupied, so 
far as settled, by slave-holders. 

The State of Missouri was formed out of part 
of the Louisiana purchase ; and it was contended 
that the new State should follow the precedents 
of the other States which had been created out 
of slave territory. Louisiana had slaves, and as 
Missouri was another portion of the same pur- 
chase, it was demanded that she should be 
received on the same footing as a slave-holding 
State. The argument had weight, independent 
of any question as to slavery, from its merits or 
demerits as a separate question. If any State, 
under the Constitution and the precedents esta- 
blished, was entitled to hold slaves, Missouri held 
that right ; since the French province of Louisi- 
ana, of which her territory formed a part, recog- 
nised slavery. 

The dispute was adjusted, at length, by admit- 
ting Missouri as a slave State, with a proviso that 

15 



170 LIFE OF 

in all the territory ceded to the United States by 
France, north of latitude thirty six degrees, thirty 
minutes, slavery shall not exist; the limits of 
Missouri of course being excepted. This proviso 
or compromise, together with the ordinance of 
1787, includes the whole western territory. 
Some of the thirteen States which ceded their 
lands to the United States, claimed to hold to the 
Pacific; but their limits were very vague. So 
also were the limits of Louisiana, but the " Mis- 
souri Compromise" renders it now unnecessary to 
determine whether territory from which new 
States may be formed, belonged to the Louisiana 
grant, or was part of the domain of the "Old 
Thirteen." The line of latitude defines the limit. 
The accessions from Mexico open a new question; 
but of these, Texas was certainly a part of the 
tract sold to the United States by Napoleon. It 
was ceded to Spain by the treaty of 1821, in 
which Florida was acquired ; and perhaps some 
of our readers may remember to have heard the 
admission of Texas into the Union, termed a 
"re-annexation." 

To effect this compromise, Mr. Clay labored 
with all his powers of argument and of concilia- 
tion. But the matter was not here settled. At 



I 



HENRY CLAY. 171 



the next session, that of 1820-21, the difficulty 
presented itself in a new form. Missouri had 
adopted her Constitution, and came with it to 
Washington, to be formally admitted. But the 
instrument contained a provision which re-awa- 
kened all the bitterness of the contest. It was in 

I these words : "It shall be the duty of the General 
Assembly, as soon as may be, to pass such laws 
as may be necessary to prevent free negroes and 
mulattoes from coming to, and settling in this 
State, under any pretext whatever." The Senate 
passed a resolution admitting the State of Mis- 
souri — but the House refused to admit the new 

' State with such a provision in its Constitution. 
Meanwhile, the ceremony of counting the electoral 
votes, as directed by the Constitution of the 
United States, must take place in the presence 
of the Senate and House of Representatives. 

I The expedient was resorted to of declaring the 
vote first with that of Missouri, and then without 
it, to show that the vote of the suspended state 

I did not alter the result. But when the vote of 
Missouri was reached, terrific confusion arose. 
Some cried, " Missouri is a State !" and others, 
"Missouri is not a State!" The Senate withdrew 
from the disturbance; motion after motion was 



172 LIFE OF 

made, and rejected. Mr. Clay, at last, persuaded 
his fellow-members into a momentary calm, and "' 
made a motion that the Senate be notified that 
the House was now ready to complete the duty 
of counting the votes. The Senate returned; 
the rest of the States were counted, and it was 
declared that President Monroe was re-elected, by 
a vote of 231 with, and 228 without Missouri. 
Mr. Kandolph, and others, attempted to throw 
some doubts on the legality of the proceeding, 
but that point was abandoned. 

It was during this session that Mr. Clay re- 
ceived the title of the Great Pacificator. He had 
resigned his office as Speaker, on account of his 
inability to attend at the opening of the session ; 
and he reached "Washington when the House was 
in the midst of confusion, and all public business 
was defeated by this vexed question. Twice he 
procured the appointment of a committee, to 
which the resolution to admit Missouri was re- 
ferred. The report of the first committee was 
rejected. The second committee consisted of 
twenty-three members — one from each State — 
with Mr. Clay as chairman, to meet a joint-com- 
mittee of the Senate. Their unanimous report 
was a resolution by which Missouri was admitted, 



HENRY CLAY. 173 

on condition of her removing the obnoxious 
clause. It was carried in both Houses, and the 
new State accepted the terms. Thus passed 
away what had been a serious and alarming 
cause of anxiety. This pacific result, as well as 
others which he has accomplished, Mr. Clay pro- 
duced as much by personal appeals, and indivi- 
dual applications, as by his public speeches. He 
left no mode or effort of conciliation untried, and 
spared himself no labor. 

At the close of this session of Congress, Mr. 
Clay retired, as he supposed, from public life. 
He had become embarrassed in his pecuniary 
relations by the misfortunes of a friend for whom 
he had endorsed ; and desired, by resuming the 
practice of his profession, to retrieve his affairs. 
There was now a season of repose in the national 
councils. The House, at this session, approved 
Mr. Clay's policy in reference to the South Ame- 
rican republics, as developed in his frequent 
speeches, by passing a resolution that they were 
ready to second the President, whenever he 
should deem it advisable to recognise their inde- 
pendence. The treaty with Spain, now ratified, 
removed all danger of collision with that power, 
by the acquisition of Florida and the cession of 

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174 LIFE OF 

Texas; thus cancelling all foreign governments 
east of the Mississippi, and accurately defining 
our limits on the west. 

But although Mr. Clay resigned his seat in the 
National Legislature with a view to private life, 
his fellow-citizens could not forego his important 
public services. He was appointed in 1821, in 
connection with Mr. Bibb, to adjust certain con- 
flicting land claims with the State of Virginia. 
Through the loose manner in which Virginia had 
disposed of her public lands before Kentucky was 
erected into a State, land-titles in Kentucky were 
often insecure. The Legislature of Kentucky 
had passed a law by which, though a resident 
was dispossessed by the proof of a prior title, the 
claimant should pay for the permanent improve- 
ments. The principle of this law was contested, 
and the Supreme Court of the United States 
decided against it. Mr. Clay's mission was to 
procure, from the Legislature of Virginia, some 
arrangement by which this difficulty could be 
avoided. The result was the appointment of 
commissioners — Hon. B. W. Leigh on the part of 
Virginia, and Mr. Clay on the part of Kentucky. 
Their labors were only in part successful; but 
the service in which Mr. Clay was employed was 



HENRY CLAY. 175 

one of the proudest rewards of his early applica- 
tion and industry. 

The poor boy, who left Virginia thirty years 
before to seek his fortune, now returned to Rich- 
mond, the scene of his early struggles, the 
honored representative of a sister State. He 
brought with him the character of a profound 
lawyer, an accomplished legislator, an able diplo- 
matist, and a powerful orator. His reputation 
preceded him in all that he undertook, and the 
prestige of his name was almost the assurance of 
success. As may readily be supposed, his pre- 
sence in Richmond, and the knowledge of his 
mission, attracted a large concourse of people. 
Mr. Clay found it one of the most trying occa- 
sions of his life. On the way to Richmond he 
had visited the ^^ Slashes" — the grave of his 
father, the scenes of his childhood ; and the visit 
had re-awakened in his mind the memories of 
other years, and the feelings with which he had 
left his home to become a pioneer in the com- 
parative wilderness of Kentucky. 

The hall of the delegates was crowded on the 
day of the appearance of Mr. Clay before them. 
There he saw all who survived of the old men 
who were in their prime in his boyhood, and who 



176 LIFE OF 

befriended his youth. He met on terms of more j 
than equality, the representatives of the famihes 
to association with whom the shop-boy could 
hardly have dared to hope. He found himself 
in the presence of an auditory distinguished for 
culture and intellect ; and he was under the in- 
fluence of emotions which must either entirely 
enervate him, or raise him above himself. 

But he was equal to the occasion. He de- 
picted, in language flowing from a feeling heart, 
the misfortunes of those — his neighbors and 
friends — whose case he had come to plead. He 
described the pioneer crossing the AUeghanies, 
with no possession save his stout heart and strong 
arm. He painted the perils from wild beasts and 
savage men ; he described the reward, in the 
results of fortitude, courage, and patient industry. 
He brought forward the picture of the lord of 
the soil, rich in the earnings of his own hands 
— happy in his domestic relations — looking with 
complacency on the inheritance he could devise 
to his children — then suddenly reversing the 
picture, described his ejectment that another 
might reap the reward of his labors. The pic- 
ture of disappointment and unhappiness which 



HENRY CLAY. 177 

he drew moved his audience almost to tears — 
nor was the speaker unaffected. Henry Clay 
was no actor, and counterfeited no emotion 
which he did not feel ; and he never was so elo- 
quent as when advocating the cause of the 
oppressed or the unfortunate. His old friends 
heard with their own ears, the evidence that 
their expectations relative to the Mill-Boy of the 
Slashes, had not been disappointed. 



178 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XVII. 

MR. clay's re-election TO CONGRESS — CHOSEN SPEAKER 
— GREECE — RECEPTION OF LAFAYETTE. 

After nearly three years' absence from Con- 
gress, Mr. Clay was persuaded to re-enter the 
House. He was elected without opposition, and 
was, as before, chosen to the Speakership; re- 
ceiving 139 votes, against 40, which were cast 
for Mr. Barbour, of Virginia, the late Speaker. 
In taking the Chair, he made, as was his custom, 
some pertinent remarks. 

At this session, Mr. Clay's love of freedom had 
a new channel for its exercise. The independ- 
ence of the South American republics had been 
formally acknowledged, at the suggestion of the 
President, during Mr. Clay's absence from Con- 
gress. Daniel Webster brought forward a resolu- 
tion that provision should be made for the 
appointment of a commissioner to Greece. Mr. 
Clay heartily supported this resolution. Presi- 



HENRY CLAY. 179 

dent Monroe had referred to the condition of 
Greece, then struggling for liberty, in two annual 
messages ; but had made no suggestion relative 
to action. The following are extracts from the 
speech of Mr. Clav, while the subject was under 
debate : 

" Mr. Chairman, is it not extraordinary that 
for these two successive years, the President of 
the United States should have been freely in- 
dulged, not only without censure, but with uni- 
versal approbation, to express the feelings which 
the resolution proclaims, and yet, if this House 
venture to unite with him, the most awful conse- 
quences are to ensue ? From Maine to Georgia, 
and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of 
Mexico, the sentiment of approbation has blazed 
with the rapidity of electricity. Everywhere the 
interest in the Grecian cause is felt with the 
deepest intensity, expressed in every form, and 
increases with every new day and passing hour. 
And are the representatives of the people alone 
to be insulated from the common moral atmo- 
sphere of the whole land ? Shall we shut our- 
selves up in apathy, and separate ourselves from 
our country, from our constituents, from our 
Chief Magistrate, from our principles ? 



180 LIFE OF 

"The measure has been mast unreasonably 
magnified. Gentlemen speak of the watchful 
jealousy of the Turk, and seem to think the 
slightest movement of this body will be matter 
of serious speculation at Constantinople. I 
believe that neither the Sublime Porte, nor the 
European allies, attach any such exaggerated 
importance to the acts and deliberations of this 
body. The Turk will, in all probability, never 
hear the names of the gentlemen who either 
espouse or oppose the resolution. It certainly is 
not without a value; but that value is altogether 
moral. 

" Are we so mean, so base, so despicable, that 
we may not attempt to express our horror, utter 
our indignation, at the most brutal and atrocious 
war that ever stained earth, or shocked high 
Heaven ? at the ferocious deeds of a savage and 
infuriated soldiery, stimulated and urged on by 
the priests of a fanatical and inimical religion, 
and rioting in all the extremes of blood and 
butchery — at the mere details of which the heart 
sickens and recoils ? 

" If the great body of Christendom can look 
on so calmly and coolly, while all this is perpe- 
trated on a Christian people in its own immediate 






I 

- HENRY CLAY. 181 

vicinity — in its very presence — let us at least 
evince, that one of its remote extremities is sus- 
ceptible of sensibility to Christian wrongs, and 
capable of sympathy for Christian sufferings; 
that in this remote quarter of the world, there 
are hearts not yet closed against compassion for 
human woes ; that can pour out their indignant 
feelings at the oppression of a people endeared to 
us by every ancient recollection, and by every 
modern tie. Sir, attempts have been made to 
alarm the committee by the dangers to our com- 
merce in the Mediterranean; and a wretched 
invoice of figs and opium has been spread before 
us, to repress our sensibilities, and to eradicate 
our humanity. Ah, Sir, Svhat shall it profit a 
man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own 
soul ?' or what shall it avail a nation to save the 
whole of a miserable trade, and lose its liberties ? 
The resolution, though moved by Mr. Webster, 
and defended with so much zeal and eloquence by 
Mr. Clay, did not pass. But we may add here, 
to save future reference to the same theme, that 
during the administration of John Q. Adams, 
while Henry Clay was Secretary of State, the 
independence of Greece was recognised, (the 
United States being the first nation to render the 

16 



182 LIFE OF 

classic land this justice) and a Minister was sent: 
to Greece. | 

In 1824, General Lafayette arrived in this 
country — the nation's guest. Congress had 
passed a resolution placing a national vessel at 
his service, but he, with characteristic modesty,' 
preferred to come in a packet-ship. He landed' 
at Castle Garden, New York, on the 16th of^ 
August; and was received with demonstrations' 
of respect, gratitude, and afifection, which wel- 
comed and attended him wherever he appeared' 
in the United States. It is not within our scope 
to recount the incidents of his progress, but his 
reception by the House of Representatives is a 
part of the narrative of the life of Henry Clay. 
Upon him, as Speaker of the House, devolved 
the duty of welcoming the distinguished friend 
of his country; and he performed that grateful 
office in the following words : ' 

" General — the House of Representatives of 
the United States, impelled alike by its own 
feelings, and by those of the whole American 
people, could not have assigned to me a more' 
pleasant duty, than that of being its organ to 
present to you cordial congratulations upon the 
occasion of your recent arrival in the United 



HENRY CLAY. 183 

States, in compliance with the wishes of Congress, 
and to assure you of the very high satisfaction 
which your presence affords on this early theatre 
of your glory and renown. Although but few of 
the members which compose this body, shared 
with you in the war of the Eevolution, all have 
a knowledge — from impartial history or from 

[faithful tradition — of the perils, the sufferings, 
and the sacrifices which you have voluntarily 

I encountered, and the signal services in America 
and in Europe, which you performed for an in- 
fant, a distant, and an alien people ; and all feel 
and own the great extent of obligations under 
which you have placed our country. But the 
relations in which you have ever stood to the 
United States, interesting and important as they 
have ever been, do not constitute the only motive 
of the respect and admiration w^hich this House 
entertains for you. Your consistency of charac- 

, ter, your uniform devotion to regulated liberty in 
all the vicissitudes of a long and arduous life, 
also command its highest admiration. During 

I all the recent convulsions of Europe, amidst, as 

, after the dispersion of every political storm, the 
people of the United States have ever beheld you 
true to your old principles, firm and erect, cheer- 



184 LIFE OF 

ing and animating, with your well-known voice, 
the votaries of liberty ; its faithful and fearless 
champion, ready to shed the last drop of that 
blood, which here you so freely and nobly shed 
in the same holy cause. 

" The vain wish has been sometimes indulged, 
that Providence would allow the patriot, after 
death, to return to his country, and to contem- 
plate the intermediate changes which had taken 
place — to view the forests felled, the cities built, 
the mountains levelled, the canals cut, the high- 
ways constructed, the progress of the arts, the 
advancement of learning, and the increase of 
population. General, your present visit to the 
United States is the realisation of the consolins 
object of that wish. You are in the midst of 
posterity! Everywhere you must have been 
struck with the great changes, physical and moral^ 
which have occurred since you left us. Even this 
very city, bearing a venerated name alike en- 
deared to you and to us, has since emerged from 
the forest which then covered its site. In one 
respect you behold us unaltered, and that is in 
this sentiment of continued devotion to liberty, 
and of ardent affection and profound gratitude to 
your departed friend, the father of his country, 



HENKY CLAY. 185 

and to your illustrious associates in the field and 
in the cabinet, fur the multiplied blessings which 
surround us, and for the very privilege of address- 
ing you, which I now exercise. This sentiment, 
now fondly cherished by more than ten millions 
of people, will be transmitted, with unabated 
vigor, down the tide of time, through the count- 
less millions who are destined to inhabit this 
continent, to the latest posterity." 

To this address, General Lafayette made a 
graceful and grateful reply. He was afterward 
Mr. Clay's guest at Ashland ; and while the dis- 
tinguished Frenchman lived, he entertained for 
the American statesman a respect which rose to 
admiration, and a friendship which had the 
warmth of affection. " That is the man whom I 
hope to see President of the United States," said 
Lafayette in 1832 — pointing to a portrait of 
Henry Clay, which hung in his country-house. 
But it w^as a hope in which thousands of the 
admirers of the great statesman were disap- 
pointed. 



16 



* 



186 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

ELECTION OF J. Q. ADAMS — HIS TESTIMONY TO MR. CLAY 
— MR. CLAY IN THE CABINET — THE PANAMA MISSION — 
MR. RANDOLPH AND MR. CLAY — THEIR LAST INTERVIEW. 

In 1825^ John Quincy Adams commenced his 
administration, with Henry Clay as his Secretary 
of State. There were four candidates for the 
office of President — Andrew Jackson, who had 
ninety-nine votes ; John Quincy Adams, eighty- 
four ; William H. Crawford, forty-one ; and 
Henry Clay, thirty-seven. By the Constitution 
of the United States, when there is a failure to 
elect a President by the votes of the electors, the 
House of Kepresentatives designate one of the 
three highest candidates. Mr. Clay was thus 
ruled out, being the lowest in number, of four. 
As a member of the House of Representatives, 
he gave his vote to John Quincy Adams. The 
mode of election in the House of Representatives 
is by States. Adams received the votes of tbir- 



^ ~^ 



HENRY CLAY. 187 

teen States^ Jackson of seven, and Crawford of 
four. We shall not need here to disprove the 
charge made against Mr. Clay, that there was a 
bargain between him and Mr. Adams, by which 
he gave Mr. Adams his support, and received in 
return the ofl&ce of Secretary. It is sufficient to 
say that the charge, having served its temporary 
electioneering purposes, has been abundantly dis- 
proved, and of late years forgotten. Mr. Adams 
has, on more than one occasion, solemnly pro- 
claimed the charge false ; and we find him in 
reference to it using the following language, not 
more emphatic than it is just : 

" As to my motives for tendering to him the 
department of State w^hen I did, let that man 
who questions them come forward. Let him 
look round among statesmen and legislators of 
this nation, and of that day. Let him then select 
and name the man whom, by his pre-eminent 
talents, by his splendid services, by his ardent 
patriotism, by his all-embracing public spirit, by 
his fervid eloquence in behalf of the rights and 
liberties of mankind, by his long experience in 
the affairs of the Union, foreign and domestic, a 
President of the United States, intent only upon 
the honor and welfare of his country, ought to 



188 LIFE OF 

have preferred to Henry Clay. Let him name 
that man, and then judge you, fellow-citizens, of 
my motives." 

Mr. Clay justified the wisdom of Mr. Adams in 
his choice. We may remark that Mr. Adams 
also invited Mr. Crawford into his cabinet, but 
that gentleman did not accept. Had he seen fit 
to take place under Mr. Adams, the rare spec- 
tacle would have been presented of three men, 
whom citizens of the United States deemed com- 
petent to sit in the Executive chair, occupying 
the high places of the government together. Mr. 
Adams's administration, so far as the distribution 
of office was concerned, was eminently national, 
and not partisan. He did nothing to procure his 
re-nomination, or to continue himself in office. 
His measures were marked by independence in 
his domestic administration, and by manliness in 
his foreign intercourse. The stamp of Mr. Clay's 
policy was upon all the measures upon which he 
was consulted, or which legitimately fell within 
his department; and he proved no less efficient as 
a Cabinet Minister, than he had been as a Eepre- 
sentative of the people in Congress. Wherever 
he was placed, he was always a leader ; for his 
mighty mind commanded pre-eminence. He 



HENRY CLAY. 189 

followed up in his new sphere the leading mea- 
sures of his life ; preserving, in the treaties with 
foreign nations which he negotiated, his princi- 
ples respecting American industry and true in- 
dependence. Through the foreign diplomatic 
relations of the country, he found means to 
forward the recognition, by other powers, of 
South American and of Grecian independence. 

In the year 1825, the Spanish- American Ke- 
publics invited the United States to meet, at 
Panama, delegates from those republics, to deli- 
berate on measures for the promotion of union 
and mutual assistance. Messrs. John Sergeant 
and Eichard C. Anderson were appointed agents 
on the part of the United States. Mr. Clay, as 
Secretary of State, furnished them with a letter 
of instructions. In this document, he defended 
the most philanthropic national policy in war, 
and the most liberal and enlightened measures in 
peace. All his diplomatic correspondence was 
worthy of the man and of the republic. 

It is not to be supposed, however, that an 
administration coming into power against such 
exasperated opposition as Mr. Adams encountered, 
could escape detraction. The measures of govern- 
ment were freely canvassed in the Senate ; and 



190 LIFE OF 

upon the Panama Mission, Mr. Kandolph, who had 
now a seat in the Senate, commented with ex- 
ceeding bitterness. His old exasperation against 
Mr. Clay seemed to have increased in rancor, 
and he used language in reference to the Presi- 
dent and his Secretary of State, for which mental 
infirmity could alone be urged in extenuation. 
Unhappily, Mr. Clay was tempted to demand ex- 
planation or retraction. Mr. Randolph refused, 
and a hostile meeting followed. Thus a second 
time was Mr. Clay betrayed into the criminal folly 
of a duel. "It was a grievous fault," and Mr. 
Clay was made " grievously to answer it." There 
is no doubt, that more than anything else, the 
charge of being a duellist was effective against 
his hopes and prospects, in those portions of the 
United States where duelling is held in its proper 
detestation. The immediate cause of irritation in 
this case, was the application of an epithet to Mr. 
Clay by Randolph, which implied that he was a 
gambler. It was one of a long series of premedi- 
tated insults, intended, it is supposed, to provoke 
a duel ; but which a man like Henry Clay should, 
in any case, have been above resenting. 

We may here take occasion to say, that, in the 
manner in which Mr. Randolph applied the term 



HENRY CLAY. 191 

used to Mr. Clay, it was unjust. There are in 
some parts of our country — or have been, for we 
hope the public mind is growing sounder upon 
the subject — certain conventional rules of society, 
which make games of chance a reputable amuse- 
ment under certain circumstances. These rules 
Mr. Clay never transgressed, even in the days of 
his youth. He never played at a public table or 
in a gambling-house. Before Mr. Randolph made 
that charge, Mr. Clay had ceased to play at games 
of hazard. Yet, his political enemies succeeded 
at one time in producing an impression that he 
was what Mr. Randolph termed him. No man is 
perfect, and we claim no perfection for Henry 
Clay. But now that the earth covers his re- 
mains, we may defend his memory from unjust 
aspersions, while we do not conceal the truth, or 
deny the reader the warning which his example 
affords, that we should not only avoid evil, but 
"every appearance of evil." 

The duel betw^een Mr. Clay and Mr. Randolph 
was without any wound to either. As Mr. Ran- 
dolph's name will not occur again in this book, 
this is a proper place to mention these last inter- 
views. In 1833, a few weeks before Mr. Ran- 
dolph's death, he came to the Senate chamber, 



192 LIFE OF 

being too ill to stand or walk without assistance. 
Mr. Clay had just risen to make some remarks. 
^^Help me up," said Mr. Kandolph to his half- 
brother, Mr. B. Tucker; '^ I have come to hear that 
voiced Mr. Clay went to him as soon as he 
had concluded his remarks, and exchanged salu- 
tations. It is pleasant to hear that they were 
thus reconciled ; the more especially that through 
their long official life, there had been so many 
causes of irritation between them. It was Mr. 
Clay's practice to avoid Mr. Kandolph, when he 
knew that the eccentric man meditated an affront. 
But his situation as Speaker was one of peculiar 
difficulty, since, in enforcing order, he was com- 
pelled to cross the erratic gentleman's path, and 
occasionally to compel him to sit down. Mr. 
Clay, however, was always an impartial presiding 
officer; and it is related of him, that though for 
so many years Speaker of the House, there was 
seldom an appeal against his decisions ; and 
during the latter years of his Speakership, no 
dispute with him upon points of order. Indeed, 
he may be said to have established the usage of 
the House in many particulars ; and to have 
served his country as usefully in his sphere, as 
any other of her statesmen, or any of her warriors. 



HENRY CLAY. 19 



o 



^ CHAPTER XIX. 

MR. clay's retirement — HIS ELECTION TO THE SENATE 
— REMOVAL OF THE DEPOSITES — EXPUNGINa RESOLU- 
TION — THE COMPROMISE TARIFF. 

Mr. Clay's health had suffered very much 
during his residence in Washington, and the close 
of his official position as Secretary of State was 
by no means unwelcome to him. A pleasant 
anecdote is related of his homeward journey. 
Twenty-five years ago there were none of the 
railroad facilities which now make travelling a 
pastime. It was a laborious and very fatiguing 
task to make long journeys. Mr. Clay was 
entering Uniontown, Pennsylvania, on an outside 
seat of the stage-coach, a place he had taken in 
preference to the inside. The citizens of Union- 
town expressed some surprise at seeing the Ex- 
Secretary in that high and exposed situation. 
"Gentlemen," said Mr. Clay, "although I am 
with the outs^ the ins behind me have much the 
worst of it !" 

17 



194 LIFE OF 

For two years Mr. Clay remained in retire- 
ment — if that life may be called retirement, the 
quiet of which is frequently broken by the hospi- 
talities of admiring friends. Wherever Mr. Clay 
moved abroad, he met the warmest demonstra- 
tions of popular affection. His friends were 
anxious to show their estimate of the unfounded 
allegation of '^ bargain," which had been so suc- 
cessfully used against him ; and not a few, pro- 
bably, of his political opponents, were willing 
enough to compliment the man in a way which 
did not commit their votes, or advance his politi- 
cal prospects. He was pressed to accept a nomi- 
nation to the Kentucky Legislature, and to the 
House of Eepresentatives, but declined both. 

In 1831 the Kentucky Legislature elected him 
to the Senate of the United States ; and in the 
same year Mr. Clay was a second time nominated 
for the office of Presidency of the Union. We 
may mention here the well-known result. Gene- 
ral Jackson was in 1832 re-elected by a very 
large majority, receiving 219 votes, and Henry 
Clay 49. Eighteen votes were cast for John 
Floyd and William Wirt. General Jackson was 
at this time at the height of his prosperity. He 
had refused his assent to the recharter of the 



HENRY CLAY. 195 

Bank of the United States, and his course in this 
respect proved eminently popular. Unfortunately 
for themselves as a party, the Whigs, as the sup- 
porters of Mr. Clay were called, made first the 
re-charter of the old bank, and afterward the 
establishment of a new one, a leading measure of 
their policy. The unprejudiced observer cannot 
do otherwise than confess, that among the conse- 
quences of the defeat of the Bank of the United 
States, and the failure of the State Bank, after- 
ward chartered in Pennsylvania, and miscalled 
by the name of the old National Institution, is to 
be reckoned loss and defeat to the Whig party. 
In a previous chapter we have said all that our 
plan includes relative to the subject. We may 
here observe, that some of the most brilliant 
oratorical efforts of Mr. Clay during his later 
services in the Senate, were in opposition to 
President Jackson's financial measures. The 
withdrawal of the public money from the custody 
of the Bank of the United States, commonly 
spoken of as " the removal of the deposites," was 
an act the legality of which was strongly dis- 
puted ; and the Senate, 26 to 20, passed, in 
March, 1833, a resolution "that the President, 
in the late executive proceedings in relation to 



196 LIFE OP 

the public revenue, has assumed upon himself 
authority and power not conferred by the consti- 
tution and laws, but in derogation of both." This 
resolution was introduced and supported by Mr. 
Clay. The President sent a protest to the Senate 
against the resolution, which that body, by a vote 
of 27 to 16, refused to insert in the journal. By 
the same vote they declared that the President 
of the United States has no right to send a pro- 
test to the Senate against any of its proceedings. 
In January, 1836, a resolution was passed by the 
efforts of Mr. Benton, a warm personal friend of 
the President, by which this resolution of cen- 
sure was cancelled or exchan2:ed. The cancellation 
was done by drawling black lines around it, and 
Mr. Benton carried away the pen as a trophy. 
Through the whole of the debates to which Mr. 
Benton's resolution gave rise, Mr. Clay main- 
tained his ground ; but changes in the Senate had 
produced an effective majority for the measure. 

This term of Mr. Clay's service in the Senate, 
from 1831 to 1837, was signalized by his great 
Tariff Compromise, the second of the three lead- 
ing efforts of patriotism which distinguished his 
public career. The tariff of 1824, in support of 
which Mr. Clay made one of his most celebrated 



HENRY CLAY. 197 

sjjeeches, had now, as Mr. Clay and his friends 
contended, established the soundness of the pro- 
tective policy, and elevated the business interests 
of the country and its general prosperity, to a 
position almost unexampled. In 1828, while Mr. 
Clay was Secretary of State, the tariff of 1824 
was altered, and, against the judgment of Mr. 
Clay, made exceedingly obnoxious to the oppo- 
nents of protection. These difficulties were, 
in some degree, afterward remedied, and the 
amended and re-amended tariff continued a short 
time longer. In 1831, the administration indica- 
ted an intention to alter this tariff, in order to 
reduce the revenue to the wants of government, 
for which, it was found, the customs were more 
than adequate. The opponents of the protective 
system were ready to seize the occasion to reduce 
the tariff, without regard to the principle of 
protection — or rather with a view to the destruc- 
tion of the protective policy. Mr. Clay antici- 
pated them by introducing a resolution, the 
purport of which was, that duties on articles 
imported from foreign countries, not coming in 
competition with American articles, ought forth- 
with to be abolished. As the resolution did 
not permit the leading principle of the system 

17* 



198 LIFE OF 

to be touched, it was vigorously opposed by the 
opponents of protection, and ably defended by 
Mr. Clay. A bill was reported in compliance 
with this resolution, and passed at the close of a 
long session. The act, as passed, was a triumph 
for Mr. Clay, as it preserved the great principle 
for which tie had all his life contended. 

The enemies of the protective system were not 
yet satisfied. The State of South Carolina, in 
particular, was exceedingly discontented, and the 
famous nullification measures of that State fol- 
lowed upon the tariff of 1831. President Jack- 
son, on the 10th of December, 1832, issued his 
proclamation, announcing that the revenue laws 
must be enforced. Governor Hayne of South 
Carolina answered the President in a counter 
proclamation. A bill was brought forward in the 
United States House of Representatives, reducing 
the duties on all protected articles; and in the 
Senate, a bill to enforce the collection of the 
revenue, wherever opposition was offered. 

It was a stormy crisis. Civil war seemed im- 
pending ; for the hot spirits in South Carolina, 
who had threatened opposition to the Federal 
Government, seemed in danger of being forced 
by their own acts into collision ; and none who 



HENRY CLAY. 199 

knew the stern character of the President, 
doubted that he would employ all the means 
within his reach to enforce the laws of the Union, 
at whatever sacrifice. In this juncture, the 
House Tariff Bill still being pending, Mr. Clay 
brought forward his famous Compromise Tariff. 
The main feature of the bill was, that it provided 
for a gradual reduction of the Tariff until 1842, 
when a twenty per centum should be the rate of 
duties, until otherwise provided by law. It 
passed both Houses by quite a large majority, 
considering the state of parties, the vote being 
120 to 84 in the House, and 29 to 16 in the 
Senate. The storm subsided: the country was 
quieted, and Mr. Clay stood proudly before his 
countrymen, as the man who had averted col- 
lision between a State and the Federal adminis- 
tration, and still maintained the principle of 
protection. There were not wanting some angry 
spirits who would have been glad to find the 
question of resistance brought to the test of 
force. To such Mr. Clay said : 

"If there be any who want civil war, who 
want to see the blood of any portion of our coun- 
tryinen spilt, I am not one of them. I wish to 
see war of no kind ; but, above all, I do not de- 



200 LIFE OF 

sire to see a civil war. When war begins, whe- 
ther civil or foreign, no human sight is competent 
to foresee when, or how, or where it is to termi- 
nate. Bat when a civil war shall be lighted up 
in the bosom of our own happy land, and enemies 
are marching, and commanders are winning their 
victories, and fleets are in motion on our coast, 
tell me, if you can, tell me if any human being 
can, tell its duration. God only knows where 
such a war would end. In what a state will our 
institutions be left? In what a state our liber- 
ties ? I want no war ; above all, no war at home. 
" Sir, I repeat that I think South Carolina has 
been rash, intemperate and greatly in the wrong ; 
but I do not want to disgrace her, or any other 
member of the Union. No : I do not want to 
see the lustre of one single star dimmed of our 
glorious confederacy ; still less do I wish to see it 
blotted out, and its light obliterated for ever. Has 
not the State of South Carolina been one of the 
members of this Union in ' the times that tried 
men's souls?' Have not her ancestors fought 
along-side our ancestors? Have we not conse- 
quently won many a glorious battle ? If we had 
to go into a civil war with such a State, ht)w 
would it terminate? Whenever it should have 



HENRY CLAY. 201 

terminated, what would be her condition? If 
she should ever return to the Union, what would 
be the condition of her feelings and affections ? — 
what the state of the heart of her people ? She 
has been with us before when her ancestors min- 
gled in the throng of battle ; and as I hope our 
posterity will mingle with hers, for centuries to 
come, in the united defence of liberty, and for 
the honor and glory of the Union, I do not wish 
to see her degraded or defaced as a member of 
this confederacy." 

Such was Mr. Clay's policy — say rather, his 
humanity — whenever unanimity could be gained 
by concession and kindness. He was not the man 
to force his point in an offensive manner, or heed- 
lessly to exasperate. And in the sober light of 
approaching age, his opinions of war were modi- 
fied from the bold stand which he took in the 
ardor of his youthful patriotism. The details of 
his conciliatory plan were nurtured by consulta- 
tion with practical men, as well as politicians; 
and its passage was secured by personal inter- 
views and private conversation, as much as by 
public efforts. 

Here was still another subject upon which Mr. 
Clay proved himself entitled to the name of " The 



202 LIFE OF 

great Pacificator." The government of France, 
in 1831, agreed, by treaty, to pay the United 
States Government twenty-five millions of francs 
for aggressions upon American commerce, subse- 
quent to 1800. The first instalment, by the terms 
of the treaty, was to be paid in 1832. The draft 
of the United States was dishonored by the 
French Minister of France, no provision having 
been made to meet it. The President recom- 
mended to Congress to pass an act authorizing 
reprisals upon French property, in case provision 
should not be made by the French Chambers at 
their next session, for the fulfilment of the 
treaty. The subject was referred to the Commit- 
tee of the Senate on Foreign Relations, of which 
Mr. Clay was Chairman. Great anxiety had ex- 
isted throughout the country at a posture of 
afiairs so threatening ; but Mr. Clay's report, of 
which the Senate ordered the printing of twenty 
thousand copies, restored public confidence. It 
concluded with a resolution that it was inexpe- 
dient to vest authority in the Executive to make 
reprisals. This resolution was amended to read 
as follows : " That it is inexpedient, at present, 
to adopt any legislative action in regard to the 
state of affairs between the United States and 



HENRY CLAY. 203 

France." The resolution as amended, the amend- 
ments being cordially accepted by Mr. Clay, was 
passed unanimously. The country was saved 
from war, and the difficulty between France and 
the United States was subsequently arrano-ed 
through the mediation of England. 



204 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XX. 

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS — MR. CLAY'S DEMEANOR UNDER 
DISAPPOINTMENT — RESIGNATION OF HIS SEAT IN THE 
SENATE. 

Martin Yan Buren, of New York, succeeded 
General Jackson in 1836, as President of the 
United States. Mr. Clay was desired to accept the 
nomination in competition with Mr. Yan Buren, 
but declined. Mr. Yan Buren received 170 out 
of 294 electoral votes, General Harrison receiving 
73, the next highest number. The other votes 
were divided among White, Webster, and Man- 
gum. At the next election, in 1840, Mr. Clay 
was not a candidate, the choice of the Whig Na- 
tional Convention falling on General Harrison. 
Harrison was elected by 234 votes, Mr. Yan 
Buren receiving 60. It was a matter of deep 
regret with a great portion of the American peo- 
ple, that Mr. Clay did not receive the nomination ; 
and, between the announcement of the name of 



I 



HENRY CLAY. 205 

the candidate and the time of the election, there 
was quite a disposition to put Mr. Clay up, not- 
withstanding the action of the Convention which 
nominated Harrison. But Mr. Clay exerted his 
influence promptly to check any such demonstra- 
tion. His personal wishes were secondary to his 
attachment to the principles of which he con- 
sidered himself the representative ; and he cheer- 
fully consented that those principles should 
triumph under the name of the candidate who, 
it was supposed, would promise more certainty of 
victory. We cannot resist the impression now, 
so triumphant was Harrison's election, that Clay 
would have been chosen, had he been nominated. 
Experience has, however, demonstrated that the 
most able and active men in the civil service of 
the country, by the conscientious performance of 
duty, make opponents of fractions of the people, 
while the nation as a whole may applaud ; and 
the malcontents unite to defeat the election of 
the man of note and power. 

General Harrison died in a month from the 
day of his inauguration, and Mr. Tyler, the Vice 
President, filled his term of office. At the next 
election, in 1844, Mr. Clay was put in nomina- 
tion under greater disadvantages than any other 

18 



206 LIFE OF 

candidate ever encountered. He had the politi- 
cal odium of two defeats to contend against; 
though the first, in 1824, should hardly have 
been counted ; and in the second he had to con- 
tend against the unparalleled popularity of Presi- 
dent Jackson. A worse discouragement than 
either, was the doubt which his friends threw 
over his prospects, by their abandonment of him 
in 1840. Every effort was made to secure his 
success in 1844, but all could not avail against 
the discouraging circumstances which we have 
mentioned, added to the fact that he had been 
so long talked about, though only once regularly 
nominated before. An undue confidence was, at 
a late day, given to his friends by the unexpected 
nomination of a candidate comparatively un- 
known, James K. Polk, of Tennessee. The can- 
vassing for Mr. Clay was, notwithstanding, con- 
ducted with so much apparent enthusiasm, that 
his defeat was heard with mingled surprise and 
grief by those, who, had they suspected the need 
of exertion, might have given a different result 
to the contest. 

Mr. Clay bore his misfortune — for a misfortune 
it was — with great equanimity. It is not to be 
supposed that he did not deeply feel the defeat. 



HENRY CLAY. 207 

But there were many circumstances of relief in 
the result. Though Mr. Polk received 170 elec- 
toral votes, and Mr. Clay only 107, yet the popular 
vote for Mr. Clay was larger by many thousands, 
than General Harrison received in 1840. And 
the expressions of attachment and of regret which 
were conveyed to him, official and individual, and 
the evidences of esteem which he received from 
all sections of the Union, showed the singular 
anomaly of one personally better beloved than 
any other public man living, yet still unable to 
carry the popular vote against party tactics. 

In the canvass of 1848, many of Mr. Clay's 
friends still adhered to their old friend and first 
choice. Meanwhile, a new candidate for the 
highest office in the gift of the people, had been 
thrust upon public attention. Without seeking, 
without as much as dreaming of the possibility 
of a nomination to the Presidency, General Zach- 
ary Taylor was spontaneously nominated in va- 
rious sections of the country, as the popular 
candidate for the Presidency. His brilliant mili- 
tary successes, his amiable heartiness and sim- 
plicity of character, his marked position as a hero 
and popular idol, gave him a prestige of success, 
which the Whig National Convention at Philadel- 



208 LIFE OF 

phia did not feel at liberty to slight. After four 
ballotings. General Taylor received the nomina- 
tion. He was elected by 163 votes over General 
Cass, who received 127. Mr. Clay must have 
been more than human, not to have felt this 
neglect; but, as on previous occasions, he dis- 
played his true magnanimity; for if he did not 
obtrude himself as the advocate of the nomina- 
tion, he positively interdicted the putting forward 
of his name as a candidate — a step which some 
of his friends were on the eve of taking. Mr. 
Clay never advocated the preference' of military 
over civil claims for civil office. The honest op- 
position which he made to General Jackson, and 
his course in the election, which resulted in the 
choice of Adams, show that he might not have 
favored Taylor as President, even though he had 
no personal interest in the matter. 

Having now connectedly reviewed the later 
Presidential elections, in which Mr. Clay was 
interested, we resume the sketch of his Senato- 
rial labors, and more immediate personal history. 
During the twelve years preceding his death, Mr. 
Clay labored as earnestly for the good of his 
country, as if he had not been a comparatively 
unrewarded public servant. We have preferred 



HENRY CLAY. 209 

to dwell at most length upon his early life, since 
it is chiefly for his young countrymen that we are 
writing ; and to such, it is presumed that the ac- 
count of his beginnings in life will be alike most 
interesting and useful. 

The death of General Harrison obstructed the 
measures and the policy contemplated by the 
leading statesmen in the party who had elected 
him. The succession of Mr. Tyler exhibited 
opinions held by that gentleman, for which Mr. 
Clay and his friends were entirely unprepared. 
Mr. Clay remained in the Senate until the close 
of March, 1842, actively and earnestly employed 
in the furtherance of the measures which he 
deemed the exigencies of the country required, 
and then, in pursuance of a resolution w^hich the 
death of General Harrison had deferred, resigned 
his seat, retiring, as he supposed, from the Senate 
for ever. His farewell address was most impres- 
sive and manly. He frankly acknowledged the 
ardor and warmth of temperament, which might 
have made him, in some cases, exceed the limits 
of courtesy ; and while he tendered apologies to 
all whom he might have offended, declared, with- 
out exception and reserve, that he retired from 

18* 



210 LIFE OF 

the Senate without carrying with him a feeling 
of resentment and dissatisfaction. 

At the close of the address, Mr. Preston moved 
an adjournment. He remarked that what had 
just taken place, was an epoch in their legislative 
history ; and from the feeling which was evinced, 
he saw that there was little disposition to attend 
to business. The adjournment was carried, but 
still the members kept their seats. Mr. Clay rose 
and moved towards the area, and slowly and 
reluctantly the Senate dispersed, as if loth to 
believe that the voice to v/hich they had so often 
listened, was no longer to be the life of their 
debates. 

An affecting and pleasant incident marked the 
occasion. For several years there had been an 
estrangement between Clay and Calhoun. The 
two old and early friends met. Their eyes filled, 
recent differences were forgotten, and, with a cor- 
dial grasp of the hand, and with a mutual inter- 
change of good wishes, they departed. 



L_ 



HENRY CLAY. 211 



CHAPTER XXI. 

ME. clay's withdrawal FROM PUBLIC LIFE — ANNEXA- 
TION OF TEXAS — THE TARIFF — LIBERALITY OF MR. 
clay's friends — SPEECH ON THE IRISH FAMINE — 
DEATH OF HENRY CLAY, JR. — MR. CLAY'S BAPTISM — 
HIS JOURNEYS — SPEECH ON COLONIZATION. 

For seven years from the time of his resigna- 
tion, Mr. Clay lived in private life. One year 
of his Senatorial term remained when he retired 
to Kentucky. But of the life of such a man as 
Mr. Clay, no part could be strictly said to be in 
retirement ; for wherever he moved, the enthu- 
siasm of the people and the warmth of friend- 
ship followed him. In the recess which he took 
from public labor, he made a journey through 
several of the Southern States, arriving at Wash- 
ington in the spring of 1844 — the first time, we 
believe, that he ever visited that city as a private 
citizen. His journey was one series of public 
receptions ; and his opinions on topics of public 
and national interest were very much sought, 
and as freely given. 



212 LIFE OF 

Mr. Clay returned in May, 1844, to Ashland, and 
in connexion with his arrival in Kentucky, a 
pleasant and characteristic anecdote is related. 
He had just been nominated to the Presidency, 
and a crowd met him at Lexington, resolved to 
hear their favorite speak, and to give him a 
Kentucky welcome. It w^as on Saturdaj^ evening, 
and he told the multitude he was happy to see 
them — happy to see every one of them — but 
there was an excellent old lady in the neighbor- 
hood whom he had rather see than any one else ! 
So, bidding them good night, he pressed on for 
his home. 

Mr. Clay never was reserved in the expression 
of his opinions. He was too frank to have any 
concealments, and thus presented many assailable 
points to opponents who perverted his words. 
The annexation of Texas began at this time to 
be mooted, and Mr. Clay, in letters, in speeches, 
and in conversation, declared against it, predict- 
ing, as a necessary consequence, the war with 
Mexico which followed that measure. The an- 
nexation was consummated under President Tjder. 
The election came on, and Mr. Polk, as Mr. Ty- 
ler's successor, inherited the war which Mr. Clay 
had predicted. The tariff, which had been tern- 



HENRY CLAY. 213 

porarily adjusted during Mr. Tyler's administra- 
tion, was revised under Mr. Polk, and the present 
system established, of which it is sufficient for us 
to say that it is a departure from the system 
which Mr. Clay had so long defended. These and 
other measures which are at war with the policy 
of Mr. Clay, were carried during his absence from 
the Senate. His presence in that body would 
not, perhaps, have averted the departure from his 
line of policy. A strong majority was against 
him ; but still it is a significant fact, that the 
^'^ black tariff" of 1828 and the tariff of 1846, 
the two most objectionable enactments on the 
subject, were both passed in his absence. 

In rural and legal pursuits, and the restoration 
of his pecuniary affairs, which attention to the 
public weal, and too great confidence in others 
had impaired, Mr. Clay passed the season of his 
absence from public life. One of the most grate- 
ful events of his life, was the unsought contribu- 
tions on the part of his friends, to relieve his 
estate from claims to which it had become liable 
by endorsing for another. The amount was over 
twenty thousand dollars. Well might he exclaim, 
in view of the bitterness with which his opponents 
pursued him, and the liberality and affection of 



214 LIFE OF 

his friends, " Had ever man such enemies — had 
ever nyin such friends, as I have !" 

Our limits do not permit us to notice a tithe of 
the testimonials of respect and affection which 
Mr. Clay received from all classes. Some of these 
were of great value ; as for instance, the medal 
presented by his friends in New York, the work- 
manship of which alone cost over two thousand 
dollars. Others were significant from their par- 
ticular occasion, as the testimony of the gratitude 
of the sons of Ireland, for his eloquent speech in 
behalf of their famine-stricken countrymen. Be- 
ing in New Orleans early in 1847, he was invited 
to attend a meeting held in behalf of Ireland ; 
and his speech was worthy of the theme and of 
the man. The effect of the speech was electric 
on those who heard it, and on the public ear it 
fell great among the many great appeals which 
that occasion called forth. The honored of the 
South American patriots became beloved among 
the sufferers in Ireland. In the letter begging 
his acceptance of their testimonial — a service of 
splendid cutlery — the donors said, "It must be 
an abiding joy to your generous heart, to know 
that American benevolence is devoutly blessed in 
parishes and cabins, where even your name, illus- 



HENRY CLAY. 215 

trious as it is, had hardly been heard before the 
famine ; and that thousands have been impelled, 
by their deliverance from the worst effects of that 
dire calamity, to invoke blessings on the head of 
Henry Clay." 

While ever ready to commiserate the woes of 
others, Mr. Clay has had, in his own household, 
many sorrows. Of eleven children, four only 
survive him; and one of these, his eldest son, 
has been for many years the inmate of a retreat 
for the insane. One of his sons, Henry Clay, jr., 
fell at Buena Yista, while gallantly leading his 
men. He was a graduate of West Point, and the 
highest testimony is borne to his character as a 
soldier and a man. His loss was Mr. Clay's direct 
share in the miseries of the war which he depre- 
cated ; and on no occasion could he afterward 
allude to it, without the deepest emotion. 

Following the reception of the news of this 
great affliction, we find Mr. Clay making a 
public profession in baptism of his faith in the 
Christian religion. His father, as we have noted, 
was a clergyman — his brother is also ; and they 
both are members of a denomination — the Bap- 
tist — which does not recognize the validity of 
the sacrament administered to infants. From 



216 LIFE OF 

this circumstance arose the fact that the veteran 
statesman, in his seventieth year, was, with his 
daughter-in-law and four of his grand-children, 
admitted by baptism into the church. It was a 
touching testimony to the consolations, which 
truly great minds find in the profession of Christ, 
that Mr. Clay, the idol of a great nation, should 
bow, in his age, like a little child, and with little 
children, before Him who is no respecter of per- 
sons. His life needed only this to give him the 
highest claim to the love and veneration of his 
compatriots. The sacrament was administered 
by the "Rev. Edward F. Berkely, of Christ (Pro- 
testant Episcopal) Church, Lexington, where for 
many years Mr. Clay had been a w^orshipper. 

In the winter of 1847-8, Mr. Clay was drawn 
to Washington on professional business. The 
amount of physical and mental labor of which he 
was at this time capable, is wonderful, when we 
consider his advanced age. He had, during the 
season previous, visited New Orleans and returned 
to Ashland, and thence gone to Cape May, and 
returned, again to leave for Washington. His 
journeys, it must be remembered, were not the 
quiet passages of an unknown man ; but at every 



HENRY CLAY. 217 

considerablepointhehad speeches to make — often 
without previous notice. 

Oratory was his element, and on fittino; occa- 
sions he could not resist, though when necessity 
exacted, he could dismiss thousands in good 
humor with a word. In Baltimore, on one occa- 
sion, when the house in which he was a guest 
was besieged by his admirers, he offered them, in 
playful terms, a '^compromised If they would 
let him alone, he would let them alone. He dis- 
missed a throng in Philadelphia with similar 
badinage. Wit and humor were as ready with 
him as pathos. An amusing instance occurred 
during Jackson's administration. Mr. Yan Buren 
as Vice-President, presided in the Senate. Mr. 
Clay, in the most pathetic terms, depicted the 
distress of the country, and begged Mr. Yan 
Buren, since he had the President's ear, to make 
the representation to General Jaekson. On the 
next morning Mr. Clay gravely asked him, 
"Well, Mr. Yan Buren, did you carry my mes- 
sage?" At Mrs. Polk's table, in Washington, 
Mr. Clay said, " No one complains of your ad- 
ministration, madam — but I have heard some 
complaint of your husband's." 

While in Washington, in 1848, Mr. Clay made 
one of his most splendid speeches in behalf of the 

19 



218 LIFE OF 

Colonization Society, at its anniversary meeting. 
It was remarkable no less for its retrospective facts, 
than for its eloquence. We may note here that 
in 1849, when the subject of emancipation and 
colonization was before the people of Kentucky, 
in connexion with a revision of their Constitution, 
Mr. Clay addressed a letter to them, advocating 
the same policy which he had defended, on a 
similar occasion, nearly fifty years before. He 
wished the principle of gradual emancipation 
incorporated in the new instrument. His appeal 
was unsuccessful. This circumstance affords 
another proof of the practical and broad philan- 
thropy of the man. He never defended slavery 
in the abstract, — and was therefore denounced, 
by ultra pro-slavery men, as an abolitionist. He 
knew the South, and understood what appeared 
feasible, and what not, and declined to destroy 
his general usefulness, by limited pursuit of one 
idea. This caused the ultra opponents of slavery 
to denounce him on the other hand. His broad 
and statesmanlike views embraced the whole sub- 
ject, in all its bearings and difficulties ; and by this 
course, while the over-zealous condemned him, 
the judicious admit, that with a majority of 
statesmen like Mr. Clay, the evil of slavery would 
be gradually, as thus only it can be safely, abated. 



HENRY CLAY. 219 



CHAPTER XXII. 

MR. CLAY RETURNS TO THE SENATE — THE COMPROMISE 
OF 1850 — THE RIVER AND HARBOR BILL OP 1851. 

Mr. Clay was unanimously chosen a Senator 
of the United States for the term commencing on 
the 4th of March, 1849. He had previously been 
offered the appointment to fill a vacancy, but de- 
clined, though he did not feel at liberty to slight 
the unanimous wish of his constituents, as ex- 
pressed by their choice without a dissenting voice. 
The peculiar position of public affairs, and the 
indications of a new collision between the North 
and South upon the slavery question, no doubt 
influenced Mr. Clay's course ; and the service he 
rendered in Congress gave him, at the close of 
his life, a new title to the national gratitude. 

Texas had been annexed in his absence from 
Congress ; the Mexican war had closed with a 
new and immense accession of territory, inclu- 
ding the disputed boundaries of Texas, which 



220 LIFE OF 

had led to the war between Mexico and the Uni- 
ted States. And now came the same boundary 
dispute between the United States and Texas, the 
lands in question having been ceded to the Uni- 
ted States by the Treaty with Mexico. The last 
session of Congress under Mr. Polk's administra- 
tion, was spent in a struggle relative to the 
organization of Territorial governments in the 
newly acquired country. The House of Repre- 
sentatives, in 1848, passed a resolution, as pro- 
posed by Mr. Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, and since 
called by his name, declaring that no territory, 
acquired from Mexico at the close of the war, 
should be open to the introduction of slavery. 
This " proviso" was rejected by the Senate. The 
session of 1848-9 went by without the settle- 
ment of the territorial government question, the 
House insisting upon the interdiction of slavery, 
and the Senate rejecting any such restriction. 

On the 29th of January, 1850, Mr. Clay intro- 
duced into the Senate of the United States a 
series of resolutions, for the settlement of the 
questions in controversy. The first provided for 
the admission of Cahfornia into the Union. The 
second declared that as slavery did not exist by 
law, and was not likely to be introduced into any 



HENRY CLAY. 221 

of the territory acquired from Mexico by treaty, 
legislation on the subject was unnecessary. The 
third and fourth resolutions fixed the boundary 
of Texas, and provided for the payment to Texas 
of a sum afterward to be fixed for the relinquish- 
ment of New Mexico. The fifth resolution de- 
clared the inexpediency of abolishing slavery in 
the District of Columbia, while it still existed in 
Maryland. The sixth resolution declared the 
expediency of prohibiting the slave trade in the 
District. The seventh declared the necessity of 
providing, by law, for the delivery of fugitive 
slaves; and the eighth denied the jurisdiction of 
the United States over the slave trade between 
slave States. 

After several days' debate, Mr. Clay having 
supported his propositions by a two days' speech, 
the whole subject was referred to a committee of 
thirteen, of which Mr. Clay was Chairman. The 
committee reported on the 8th of May, and their 
report was debated for nearly three months. The 
leading Senators all spoke upon it. The bill ac- 
companying the report was called, in familiar 
language, " The Omnibus Bill," from the great 
variety of subjects which it embraced. The ad- 
mission of California; the boundary of Texas, the 

19* 



222 LIFE OF 

right of new States formed out of Texas to be 
admitted without regard to slavery, and the 
establishment of Territorial governments for 
Utah and New Mexico, all were included in this 
cumbrous bill. The only part left after three 
months' debate, was the section establishing a 
government for Utah. California was afterwards 
admitted by a separate act. In separate bills, the 
rest of the subjects were also disposed of. New 
Mexico was organized, the limits of Texas were 
defined, and acts were passed for the abolition of 
the slave trade in the District of Columbia, and 
for the arrest of fugitive slaves. 

Mr. Clay labored as far as his health would 
permit, in the business of this very laborious ses- 
sion. But he was no longer the indefatigable 
legislator. Physical debility, arising from in- 
creasing age, impaired his powers, and lessened 
his capacity for endurance. During the month 
of August he was necessarily absent, endeavoring, 
by repose and medical treatment, to restore his 
exhausted energies. 

The Compromise measures formed the last im- 
portant public business in which Mr. Clay took an 
active part. His sentiments upon the subject of 
slavery, and his desire for its gradual abolition, we 



HENRY CLAY. 223 

have already exhibited. He stood before Congress 
in the Compromise debate, as a slaveholder, and 
the representative of slaveholders ; and from his 
speeches, we know that the concessions made by 
the South in the matter, though less than Mr. 
Clay desired, were more than any other states- 
man could have procured. Mr. Clay believed in 
the right of Congress to abolish slavery in the 
District of Columbia, as he showed, by simply 
denying its expediency — leaving the matter of 
right out of the question. But his Southern 
compatriots avoided any expression, by resolu- 
tion, which could convey this sentiment, even by 
implication. So far as slavery is touched in the 
" Compromise," no new right is claimed for the 
South ; the restoration of fugitives being guaran- 
tied by the Constitution. The surrender of the 
slave trade in the District, is a concession which 
impliedly abandons the defence of the traffic — a 
concession, the importance of which, in a moral 
point of view, is much better understood and felt 
at the South, than the North ; and to the South, 
the North owes a much higher appreciation of 
this concession, than it has received. And as to 
slavery in the new territory, California has shown 
what is likely to be the result of leaving its legal- 



224 



LIFE OF 



ity, or illegality, un affirmed. Mr. Webster and 
Mr. Clay, with other eminent men, coincided in 
the opinion, that this point of slavery will adjust 
itself. Mr. Clay said, in introducing the subject: 
^^ From all that I have heard or read, from the 
testimony of all the witnesses I have seen or con- 
versed with, from all that has transpired or is 
transpiring, I do believe, that not within one foot 
of the territory acquired by us from Mexico, will 
slavery ever be planted ; and I believe it could 
not be done, even by the force and power of 
public authority." Such were Mr. Clay's opinions. 
Such also were Mr. Webster's, who expressed them 
in terms even more emphatic. 

Mr. Clay returned to Kentucky during the 
recess of Congress. He came again to Washing- 
ton to attend the next session of Congress, but 
did not appear in his seat until the 16th of De- 
cember. He took little part in the proceedings 
of the Senate, being drawn to Washington more, 
probably, to watch the operation of the Compro- 
mise policy, than from any other motive. Upon 
the occasion of presenting some petitions for a 
revision of the Tariff, Mr. Clay made some de- 
"cided, but temperate remarks. But, on the pas- 
sage of the River and Harbor Appropriation Bill, 
the fire of old seemed to be reawakened. It was 



HENRY CLAY. 225 

not taken up until the first day of March, three 
days only before the close of the session ; and its 
opponents defeated it by questions of amendment 
and other party manoeuvres, consuming the time 
till the session was closed. Mr. Clay spoke 
earnestly, but in vain, and the bill was laid over, 
unacted upon. 

Among the first efforts of Mr. Clay in Congress, 
as the reader will doubtless recollect, were speeches 
in advocacy of " Internal Improvement." He first 
procured the formal declaration of the principle, 
by a resolution offered by him in February, 1807, 
and passed almost unanimously. And in March, 
1851, his voice was heard for the last time in 
the Capitol, defending the policy of which he had 
commenced the advocacy forty-five years before. 

How had the times changed since then ! Many 
of his early co-laborers had long been in their 
graves ; and of those who continued a long politi- 
cal life with him, the last survivors were dropping 
away. J. Q. Adams, who shared with him labor 
and undeserved obloquy, had but lately descended 
to the tomb. Calhoun, his early friend, died du- 
ring the discussion of the Compromise bill. Cal- 
houn, Clay and Webster, all participated in the 
labors of that famous session. All were members 
of the Senate in 1850 — all are now in the grave. 



226 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

MR. clay's last illness — INTERVIEW WITH KOSSUTH — 
HIS DEMEANOR IN THE SICK-ROOM — HIS DEATH. 

"We are now drawing to " the last scene of all." 
Mr. Clay returned to Washington with the inten- 
tion to resume his seat in the Senate, at the com- 
mencement of the session of 1851-2. But the 
condition of his health w^as such, that he was 
unable to take any part in the public business. 
The recess had been calmly passed at Ashland ; 
and if Mr. Clay had been governed by motives 
of selfish prudence, he would not have ventured 
upon the journey to Washington. 

While he was confined to his sick chamber, 
Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian orator, visited 
Washington, by invitation of Congress. His 
speeches, wherever he had travelled in the Uni- 
ted States, had awakened an enthusiasm in his 
behalf, almost unprecedented ; and not a few of 
the members of the national legislature partook 



HENRY CLAY. 227 

of the feeling. During a previous session, Mr. 
Clay had opposed a resolution offered by Senator 
Cass, for suspending diplomatic intercourse with 
Austria, and had indicated, as a much better 
mode of showing sympathy for Hungary, the ex- 
tension of relief to the exiles driven out by Aus- 
trian oppression. He exposed the danger and 
impolicy of becoming entangled in European 
politics, and defended the settled policy of the 
United States " non-intervention in the affairs of 
other nations." And when Kossuth arrived in 
Washington, Mr. Clay gracefully and eloquently 
expressed the same opinions, at an interview to 
which the illustrious Hungarian was admitted in 
his apartment. This was the last act of Mr. 
Clay's life which had any bearing upon public 
measures, if we except his acquiescence in the 
nomination of a Presidential candidate, made by 
the Whig party. His own choice had been dif- 
ferent ; but, as on previous occasions, he was ever 
ready to waive his personal preferences, where no 
sacrifice of principle was involved in the surren- 
der. 

Mr. Clay died on the morning of the 29th of 
June, 1852, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. 
His death was occasioned by a decay of his phys- 



228 LIFE OF 

ical powers, precipitated by his intense labors 
during the passage of the third great Compromise. 

The following account of Mr. Clay's demeanor 
in the sick room, is by Rev. C. M. Butler, of 
Washington : 

"At the time when he was very feeble, and 
not expecting to survive but a few days, (though 
he afterwards rallied,) I was in the habit of visit- 
ing him every day. This visit was made in the 
afternoon. At that time, although he was able 
to be off his couch but about two hours, he was 
in the habit of being dressed as carefully, even to 
his boots and his watch, as if he were about to go 
to the Senate Chamber — a habit which showed 
his love of neatness and order, and which it re- 
quired a vast amount of energy to sustain — and 
then to see his friends before and after dinner. 
It so happened that on one occasion when I 
called, I found him so exhausted that he was in 
haste to return to his bed, and was unable to join 
with me in my usual religious service. For seve- 
ral days after I was prevented from seeing him 
by parish duty. Mr. Clay sent for me, and ex- 
pressed the fear that I had not been to see him, 
because he might have seemed irritable and im- 
patient when I was last with him. I assured him 



HENRY CLAY. 229 

that I had not observed the slightest evidence of 
anything but excessive weariness, and had been 
detained by unavoidable duty elsewhere. In the 
kindest terms he enjoined me not to allow him to 
become troublesome. So considerate — so kind — 
so humble — so fearful of wounding and giving 
trouble — how could it be otherwise, than that 
the favored group who were permitted to minister 
at his bed-side, learned to love him with singular 
tenderness and tenacity of affection?'* 

Rev. Dr. Butler was a frequent visiter at Mr. 
Clay's bed-side, and, at his request, held religious 
services in his apartment, at one time, as often as 
once a day. The account of his last reception of 
the Lord's Supper, has a mournful, yet delightful 
interest. " Being extremely feeble, and desirous 
of having his mind undiverted, no persons were 
present but his son and servant. It was a scene 
long to be remembered. There, in that still 
chamber, at a weekday noon, — the tides of life 
all flowing strong around us, — three disciples of 
the Savior, — the minister of God, the dying 
statesman, and his servant, a partaker of the like 
precious faith, commemorated their Savior's dying 
love. He joined in the blessed sacrament with 
great feeling and solemnity, now pressing his 

20 



230 LIFE OF 

hands together, and now spreading them forth, 
as words of the service expressed the feehngs, 
desires, supplications and thanksgivings of his 
heart. After this, he rallied, and again I was often 
permitted to join with him in religious services, 
conversation, and j)rayer. He grew in grace, and 
in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus 
Christ. Among the books that he read most, 
were Jay's Morning and Evening Exercises, the 
Life of Dr. Chalmers, and the Christian Philoso- 
pher Triumphant in Death. His hope continued 
to the end, though true and real, to be tremulous 
with humility, rather than rapturous with as- 
surance. When he felt most the weariness of his 
protracted sufferings, it sufficed to suggest to him 
that his Heavenly Father doubtless knew that, 
after a life so long, stirring, and tempted, such a 
, discipline of chastening and suffering was needful 
to make him meet for the inheritance of the 
saints ; and at once the words of meek and pa- 
tient acquiescence escaped his lips. Exhausted 
nature at length gave way. 

" On the last occasion when I was permitted to 
offer a brief prayer at his bedside, his last words 
to me were, that he had hope only in Christ, and 
that the prayer which I had offered for His par- 






HENRY CLAY. 231 

doning love, and his sanctifying grace, included 
everything which the dying need. On the even- 
ing previous to his departure, sitting an hour in 
silence by his side, I could not but realize, when 
I heard him in the slight wanderings of his mind 
to other days and other scenes, murmuring the 
words, ^My mother, mother, mother;' and say- 
ing, ' My dear wife,' as if she were present. I 
could not but realize then, and rejoice to think 
how near was the blessed reunion of his weary 
heart with the loved dead, and with her. Our 
dear Lord, gently smooth her passage to the tomb, 
who must soon follow him to his rest, whose 
spirits even then seemed to visit and to cheer his 
memory and his hope. Gently he breathed his 
soul away into the spirit world. 

^How blest the righteous when they diel 
When holy souls retu-e to rest, 
How mildly beams the closing eye 
How gently heaves the expiring breast! 
So fades a summer cloud away, 
So sinks the gale when storms are o'er; 
So gently shuts the eye of day, 
So dies the wave upon the shore/ 



; )y 



232 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

SPEECHES IN CONGRESS — FUNERAL HONORS — BURIAL AT 
LEXINGTON — CONCLUSION. 

The intelligence of the decease of Henry Clay 
was instantly circulated, and both Houses of Con- 
gress adjourned before any formal report was 
communicated to them. His death — long as it 
had been expected — was not so immediately anti- 
cipated. On their way to the Capitol, the mem- 
bers heard the rumor, and met only to adjourn. 

On the next day, in the Senate, Mr. Under- 
wood, Mr. Clay's colleague, formally announced 
his death, and proceeded in a graceful eulogy. 
Other Senators followed : Messrs. Lewis Cass, 
K. M. T. Hunter, John P. Hale, Jeremiah Cle- 
mens, James Cooper, WilHam H. Seward, G. W. 
Jones, and Walter Brooke. Men of all parties 
and shades of political opinion, and representing 
various sections of the country, and different 
interests, were unanimous in their award of high 
honor to Henry Clay. In the House of Eepre- 



HENRY CLAY. 233 

sentatives, Mr. Breckenridge announced the de- 
cease of the illustrious Senator. From his speech 
we extract one paragraph, which places Mr. Clay 
in a truly noble light. His countrymen, of all 
parties, w^ill endorse it : — 

" The life of Henry Clay is a striking example 
of the abiding fame which surely awaits the direct 
and candid statesman. The entire absence of 
equivocation or disguise in all his acts, was the 
master-key to the popular heart; for while the 
people will forgive the errors of a bold and open 
nature, he sins past forgiveness who deliberately 
deceives them. Hence Mr. Clay, though often 
defeated in his measures of policy, always secured 
the respect of his opponents, without losing the 
confidence of his friends. He never paltered in 
a double sense. The country never was in doubt 
as to his opinions and his purposes. In all the 
contests of his time, his position in great public 
questions was as clear as the sun in a cloudless 
sky. Standing by the grave of this great man, 
and considering these things, how contemptible 
appears the mere legerdemain of politics ! What 
a reproach is his life on that false policy, which 
would trifle with a great and upright people. If 
I were to write his epitaph, I would inscribe, as 



234 LIFE OF 

the highest eulogy, on the stone which shall mark 
his resting place, ' Here lies a man who was in 
the public service fifty years, and never attempted 
to deceive his countrymen/ " 

Twelve of the members of the House followed 
Mr. Breckenridge — representing, as in the speeches 
of the Senators, every class of the American peo- 
ple. If we were to select honorable specimens 
of Congressional oratory, we could find no fitter 
speeches than those — honorable as they are to 
the patriotism, the feeling, and the justice of Mr. 
Clay's opponents, as well as his political friends. 
The nation endorses the verdict on the Noble 
Man whose declaration was^ " I would rather be 
RIGHT than President." 

On Thursday, July 1, the remains of Henry 
Clay were removed from the National Hotel to 
the Senate Chamber, attended by a long funeral 
cortege, civil and military. The Rev. Dr. Butler 
read the Burial Service of the Episcopal Church, 
which includes the greater part of the XVth 
Chapter of the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians. 
He pronounced also a solemn and impressive dis- 
course, founded on the seventeenth verse of the 
forty-eighth chapter of Jeremiah : " How is the . 
strong staJ0f broken and the beautiful rod !" We 



HENRY CLAY. 235 

have already quoted from the discourse in a pre- 
vious chapter, and here subjoin the closing words 
— the religious life of the illustrious deceased 
having just been reviewed by the reverend 
orator : — 

" Be it ours to follow him in the same humble 
and submissive faith to heaven. Could he speak 
to us the counsels of his latest human and of his 
present heavenly experiences, sure I am that he 
would not only admonish us to cling to the Savior, 
in sickness and in death, bnt abjure us not to 
delay — to act upon our first convictions, that we 
might give our best power and full influence for 
God, and go to the grave with a hope unshadowed 
by the long worldliness of the past, and darkened 
by no films of fear and doubt resting over the 
future. The ^strong staff is broken,' and the 
' beautiful rod' despoiled of its grace and bloom, 
but in the light of the eternal promise, and by 
the power of Christ's resurrection, we joyfully 
anticipate the prospect of seeing that broken 
staff erect, and that beautiful rod clothed with 
celestial grace, and blossoming with undying life 
and blessedness in the paradise of God." 

Soon after the close of the service, the remains 
of Mr. Clay, suitably attended by Senators depu- 



236 LIFE OF 

ted for that office of mournful honor, left Wash- 
ington for Baltimore. Here for the night the 
body lay in state, in the rotundo of the Exchange, 
a military corps, the Independent Grays, being 
its guard of honor. Thousands passed through 
the building to look their last upon the remains 
of the patriot ; and a feeling of the deepest sor- 
row seemed to pervade the city. 

On Friday evening the funeral cortege reached 
Philadelphia. It was met, at the railroad depot, 
by the marshals and other officers appointed by 
the municipal authorities of Philadelphia and 
the districts. The body was removed to a hearse 
appropriately decorated, and drawn by six dark 
horses, all the appointments intended, so far as 
funeral magnificence can go, to testify the deep 
grief of Philadelphians for his death, and their 
respect for his memory. A procession two miles 
in length followed the hearse. The Philadelphia 
Washington Grays preceded the body as an escort, 
and the First City Troop followed as a guard of 
honor. The line was formed of municipal bodies, 
delegations from other cities and States, societies 
of various names, the clergy in carriages, citizens 
mounted and on foot. Conspicuous, and most 
imposing by their numbers and appearance, were 







THE TORCH-LIGHT PROCESSION. 



HENRY CLAY. 237 

tlie Firemen of the city and county, who appeared 
in citizen's dress, wearing uniform suits of black, 
with white vests and gloves, and bearing torches 
and appropriate transparencies and banners, which 
much enhanced the solemn effect. Bands of music 
played dirge-like airs, the bells tolled, minute-guns 
were fired ; and, save these sounds and the heavy 
fall of so many thousand feet, nothing broke the 
silence of the night. No voice was heard — no 
accident of any nature marred the deep solemnity 
of the scene. 

It was midnight when the head of the proces- 
sion reached Independence Square. The coffin 
was borne by the pall-bearers, preceded by the 
Chief Marshal, and the Clergy in robes, and fol- 
lowed by the Congressional and other Committees, 
up the main avenue to the Hall of Independence, 
where the corpse was laid in state, upon a bier, 
adorned with natural flowers. And here in the 
Hall, where a few years before Mr. Clay so touch- 
ingly alluded to the death of Mr. Adams, and 
where the remains of that distinguished patriot 
rested, Mr. Clay's body lay in state. The body 
was surrendered in a feeling speech, by the Chief 
Marshal, Major Fritz, into the keeping of the 
City Authorities. The Chairman of the Com- 



238 LIFE OF 

mittee of Arrangements, Mr. Wetherill, was so 
overcome by his feelings, that he could not reply. 
As each one of the spectators admitted, passed 
around the bier, and took a last look at the coffin, 
then encircled in a wreath of green, and rare 
flowers, the silence of death pervaded the room. 
Tears were freely shed, and the deepest sorrow 
was depicted in every countenance. 

Again at New York the funeral train made a 
pause, and on Monday moved again for Albany. 
During the stay in New York, over thirty thou- 
sand persons passed through the City Hall, look- 
ing, as they moved, upon the sealed coffin which 
contained all that remains on earth of the man 
so deeply loved. Thence by Albany, Rochester, 
Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Louisville, to Lex- 
ington the sad procession moved — ever calling 
out from the heart of the people, the evidences 
of love and respect. Once, through the long line 
of his conquests, moved the remains of the con- 
queror of the old world, whose military renown 
rested on the ruins of a world laid waste. But 
the conqueror of the new, the subduer of hearts, 
won a greater victory in his death — the removal 
of the last trace of political bitterness, the verdict 
of a nation in his praise ; and wherever the train 



HENRY CLAY. 239 

approached, all else was forgotten, and all other 
men faded out of sight, before the memory of 
Henry Clay. 

On Friday the tenth of July, the remains of 
Henry Clay were deposited in their resting place 
in Lexington, a concourse of at least thirty thou- 
sand people being present, and participating in 
the ceremonies. The funeral services were per- 
formed at Ashland, according to the rites of the 
Episcopal Church, by Rev. E. F. Berkely, of Lex- 
ington. A large platform draped with black cloth, 
was placed in front of the main entrance to the 
house where was placed the coffin, upon which 
were strewn flowers of the choicest kind : on the 
breast was placed the beautiful wreath made from 
the " Immortelle," brought from France, and pre- 
sented by Mrs. Ann S. Stephens, the poetess. 
The civic wreath presented by the Clay Festival 
Association of New York, with a similar request, 
adorned the top, while the laurel wreath from 
Philadelphia, and the bouquets from Baltimore 
and Washington, were placed around it. 

But we must cease the enumeration of the 
posthumous honors which he received, whose 
death revealed how deep was his hold upon the 
American heart. The last fact we have to write 



240 LIFE OF HENRY CLAY. 

is the evidence which Mr. Clay left in his will, 
of his respect for his principle in relation to a 
great public question — the principle which he 
avowed in his youth, and re-affirmed in his age. 
That instrument provides that the children of his 
slaves, born after the 1st of January, 1850, are 
to be liberated and sent to Liberia — the males at 
the age of 28 years, and the females at the age 
of 25. Three years' earnings prior to their 
emancipation, are to be reserved for their benefit, 
for the purpose of fitting them out; and prior 
to the removal they are to be taught to read, 
write, and cypher. The slaves in being before 
1850, are bequeathed to his family. 

Henry Clay is now no longer a disputed name ; 
he is no more the partisan, for death has made 
his fame the national legacy — the world's pos- 
session. The grim conqueror has wrested from 
'pa^iy what was meant for mankind ; and unborn 
generations who shall share the benefits which he 
aided to establish as unquestioned human rights, 
will revere his memory. 



THE END. 



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